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MEMOIR 



PHYSICAL AM) POLITICAL GEOGKAPHY 



DEDICATED TO THE AMERICAN GEOGRAPHICAL AND STA- 
TISTICAL SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. 



BY GENERAL T. C.' DE MOSQUERA, 

EX-PRESIDENT OF NEW GRANADA; HONORARY MEMBER OF LA SOCi£t£ 
AGRONOMIQUE PRATIQUE DE PARIS ; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE 
HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL INSTITUTE OF BRAZIL; FOUNDING 
MEMBER OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF NORTHERN ANTIQUARIES OF 
DENMARK, &C, &C. 



TEANSLATED FEOM THE SPANISH BY 

THEODORE DWIGHT. 




NEW YOKK : 

PUBLISHED BY T. DWIGHT, 116 BROADWAY, 
1853. 






Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by 

THEODORE DWIGHT, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District 
of New York. 






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Before beginning a geographical description of the Kepub- 
lic of New Granada, I shall take the liberty to express my ideas 
respecting the technology of the words which have hitherto 
been used to denote the zones into which the earth is divided, 
the denomination of some of its grand divisions, and their 
number. Until the present time science has employed certain 
words, which do not signify what their etymology really indi- 
cates ; and no association might more properly adopt a change, - 
than the Geographical and Statistical Society of New York, to 
whom I propose to present this Memoir, in which I make use 
of such terms as seem to be demanded. 

The earth is divided into five zones, which we will call the 
Intertropical, the Boreal, the Austral, the Arctic, and the 
Antarctic ; while we will denominate the circles the North- 
ern Polar and the Southern Polar, suppressing the names, 
Torrid, Temperate and Cold. 

What is the Eastern Hemisphere, and what the Western ? 
This is a question of meridians ; and, if we are inhabitants of 
a place situated east from Europe, we may call Japan and 
China eastern. A single meridian should be named for 
science ; and no better one could be chosen than that of the 
Island of Faroe, because it divides the earth in such a man- 
ner as best to place the continents in the eastern and western 
hemispheres, and preserves the names by which they have 
hitherto been called, viz., Eastern and Western. 

We will not use the word Meridional as synonymous with 
Southern : because, although the ancient geographers might 
at first call mid-day south, yet, since the whole globe and its 



4 

form are known, it is improper for the inhabitants of the south, 
from the equator to the pole, to call mid-day south, as the 
sun culminates north of that part of the world at noon ; and 
science, which is for all the earth, ought to be one in its lan- 
guage, and not employ a word signifying one thing in one 
place and another in another ; and the more because there are 
cases in which the word mid-day must be used without any 
relation to the south. And, for the same reason, we should 
not denominate Meridional that which is so only in relation 
to a certain part of the earth. 

Why should the earth be divided into five parts, and not into 
six ? The present division is not natural, as we call America 
a single part of the world, though it contains two great 
continents separated by seas, and united only by the Isthmus 
of Panama. Europe and Asia might better be one part, than 
the two Americas ; and this induces me to propose that we 
now begin to call South America the sixth part of the world, 
and give it the name of Columbia. That of America will then 
be reserved for the Northern Continent and the great nation 
which occupies it, while the other will bear the name of the 
illustrious voyager, Christopher Columbus, its discoverer. 

Adopting, then, in my little work, the denominations which 
I have indicated, and which I respectfully submit to the New 
York Geographical and Statistical Society, I enter upon my 
task. 




GEOGRAPHICAL SITUATION AND BOUNDARIES, CONTINENTAL 
AREA, ISLANDS, PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, PRINCIPAL RIVERS, 
PORTS, BAYS AND LAKES, GEOLOGICAL NOTICE. 

The Eepublic of New Granada is situated in the sixth part 
or division of the world, and in the northwest of Columbia, 
extending from 12° 30' North to 3° 35' South latitude, in its 
extreme points, and from 65° 50' 40" to 83° 5' W. long, from 
Greenwich. Thus it is an intertropical country of the western 
hemisphere. The boundaries are the Atlantic Ocean from 
the Peninsula of Goajira, commencing in the bay of Calabo- 
zo, in the Gulf of Maracaibo, on the frontier of Yenezuela, 
District of Sinamaica, which was separated from Eio Hacha 
to be annexed to Yenezuela under the Spanish government. 
The boundary follows the Atlantic coast to Cape Gracias a 
Dios, comprehending the provinces of Eio Hacha, Carthage- 
na,, Panama and Veraguas, and the territory at the mouths of 
the Toro, which includes Mosquitia and the coast of San Juan 
de Nicaragua, where Great Britain, disregarding the rights of 
America, wishes to sustain a Sambo as sovereign of a country, 
the dominion of which she has acknowledged as belonging to 
Spain, by public treaties. New Granada has offered, to the 
Republics of Nicaragua and Costa Eica, to enter into an ar- 
rangement, to cede a part of the rights obtained from Spain 
by her independence ; and it is probable that her limits will 



extend to the Eiver Culebra or Dorces, in 81° 30' W. longi- 
tude from Greenv/ich. 

From that point the boundary of New Granada runs along 
the Cordillera which divides the Province of Chiriqui from 
the Eepublic of Costa Eica, to the point Burica in Golfo 
Dulce, on the Pacific, which is to be determined between the 
two republics. From Golfo Dulce the line is the coast of the 
Pacific, (in which are several islands belonging to the nation, 
to be mentioned in another part of this memoir,) to the Gulf 
of Ancon, south of Cape Manglares, in 1ST. Lat. 1°, where it 
meets the frontier of the Equator. From that point it follows 
the boundary of that republic along the branch of the wes- 
tern cordillera, which divides the waters of the Eiver Mira 
and those flowing into the Eiver Santiago of the Equator, to a 
point in the interior, where the Mira breaks the cordillera to 
flow into the Pacific. From that point the boundary passes 
along the cordillera to the summit of the Cumbal. Snowy 
Mountain and Chiles, where is the source of the Eiver Carchi, 
which divides the two countries down as far as the mouth 
of the Quebrada of Potosi ; thence "up the stream to the sum- 
mit of the great cordillera of the Ancles, which is there the 
eastern cordillera of New Granada; thence by Mocoa and 
the rivers San Miguel and El Ovo, to the Lake of Guaya- 
beno ; and from that point to the summits of the high lands 
dividing the waters which flow into the Putumayo and Napo, 
large and generally navigable rivers, tributaries of the Mara- 
lion or Amazon ; and at their confluence with that river ends 
the boundary between New Granada and the Ecuador. That 
of New Granada then proceeds with the boundary of Peru 
by the Amazon, to the western mouth of the rivers Yapua or 
Caqueta, and passes along that stream to the place where the 
Portuguese establishments were fixed in 1750 ; and a line was 
ordered to be drawn from Marachi towards the Eio Negro, by 
the 12th article of the treaty of San Ildefonso in 1777. 



Thus it is, that, from that point the boundary of New Gra- 
nada and Brazil proceeds by the Eio Negro, up the stream, to 
San Jose de Marabitana, where the boundary of Venezuela 
begins, and which lies along the left bank of the Eio Negro 
to the natural canal of Casiquiari, which continues to divide 
these two republics, the boundary running along by the waters 
of the Orinoco, to the mouth of the Meta,' in north latitude 6° 
22', and longitude 67° 4-1' west from Greenwich, then up that 
stream to 5° 50' north latitude, and 69° 15' west longitude, 
whence it makes a line parallel to the meridian, till it meets 
the river Arauca, passing the river Capanaparo and Lake 
Termino and the waters of that river, up as far as latitude 6° 40' 
north. Thence it follows another line, crossing the river 
Sarare, to the waters of the river Macao, and the waters of 
the same to its head in the cordillera of the Andes, in north 
latitude 7° and north latitude, 72° 40', in the paramos of 
Pamplona ; and thence taking the head waters of the Tachira, 
to the mouth of the Quebrada Don Pedro, up its course to the 
head-waters of the Quebrada of La China, and down its course 
to the river La Grita and its waters to their confluence with 
the Zulia. From that point it takes a direction by the moun- 
tains which lead to the cordillera of Perija, and runs from 
south to north near 73° 10' west longitude to the boundary of 
Sinamaica, in the bay of Calabozo, in the Gulf of Maracaibo, 
where we commenced our description. 



CONTINENTAL AREA. 

The continental area of the territory of New Granada, which 
we have fixed by the description of its boundaries, is 394,664 
square miles of 60 to a degree. 



ISLANDS. 

This vast continental territory, whose natural limits secure 
the interests of the state, and discourage ambitious preten- 
tions inspired by the rivalry of adjacent nations, by banishing 
every germ of discord, and consolidating peace so necessar}*- 
to the progress of civilization, is not the only land possessed 
by New Granada. She owns many islands in both oceans. 
In the Atlantic, or Caribbean Sea, are those of San Andres 
and Providence, in 12° 35' and 13° 30' north latitude, and 
west longitude 80° 05' and 80° 35' ; in the Archipelago of 
the Balize del Almirante, called the Laguna of Chiriqui, are 
eleven, the principal of which is named Boca del Toro, whose 
name has been given to all the territory ; others of little 
importance on the Mosquito shore, called the Cayos de Navio 
or Eei and Mangles, which the British government wish 
to belong to the so-called King of Mosquitia ; two small islands 
in the Escudo of Veraguas and forty in the Archipelago of 
Mulatos and coast of Portobello, which are uninhabited. On 
the coast of Carthagena are about twenty small islands, from 
Baru to the Gulf of Marrasquillo and port Zispata, without 
counting those formed by the deltas of the Magdalena and 
Atrato, which we have considered as parts of the Continent. 
In the Pacific Ocean is the Archipelago of Pearls, in the Gulf 
of Panama, which contains about ten islands, the most impor- 
tant of which is San Miguel. In the bay of Panama are the 
island of Taboga, which is the most important, and other small 
ones, as Perico, Otoque and Flamenco. On the coasts of Yera- 
gua and Chiriqui is another Archipelago, of about seventeen 
islands, among which the most important is Coiba, containing 
90 square miles. On the coast of Barbacoas are the islands of 
Gorgona and Tumaco, the latter of which alone is inhabited ; 
and there are three small ones, called Las Palmas, in the Pro- 



9 

vince of Buenaventura, without counting those formed by the 
deltas of the rivers of that coast, which also we have con- 
sidered as part of the continent. The number of square miles 
which the islands measure has not yet been ascertained. 

The topographical aspect of New Granada presents a greater 
diversity than that of any other country of Columbia : high 
mountains, extensive plains, wide vallies, and table-lands 
raised among the Cordilleras vary the physiognomy of the 
country in an admirable manner, presenting many attractions 
and beauties of the most poetical character. But we must 
suppress the feelings excited by the pictures offered us by 
virgin nature in those beautiful regions, to enter upon a de- 
scription, more useful to science, which may afford a correct 
knowledge of the country. 



PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. 

The geographical position of New Granada having been 
determined, its boundaries traced, and its area calculated, we 
proceed to treat of its physical geography. 

In none of the other countries of Columbia is to be found 
a more varied physical aspect. This is due to the triple 
number of Cordilleras and various ramifications formed by the 
great chain of the Andes in New Granada. All geographers 
well know that the Cordilleras of the Andes begin at the 
Strait of Magallanes, and extend through the continent to the 
Isthmus of Panama, following generally a line parallel to the 
Pacific Ocean, at greater or less distances, but the greatest 
does not exceed 150 miles in the Austral zone, while it is 
much less in the intertropical, until we find it, in some places, 
washed by the waters of the sea, in Ecuador and New 
Granada. 

The great chain, which, in crossing Bolivia and Peru, 



10 

divides into three principal branches, when it reaches 
Ecuador, unites itself into one great mass, which forms 
basins, or high vallies, which show the crests of two 
chains, called the Eastern and Western ; and in this form it 
reaches the south of New Granada, in the Province of 
Tuquerres. The elevation of that province is such, that there 
is hardly a terrace of equal extent in the world, at an equal 
altitude. Its principal towns are Ipiales, Cumbal, Guachucal 
and Tuquerres, which are at an elevation of from 1,550 to 
1,614 toises, with only so much low land as has been car- 
ried down by the streams, to form the narrow basin, or valley 
of Guaitara, whose medial height is 854 toises above the level 
of the Pacific. The mass of the Cordilleras retains the same 
aspect as far as the territory of Pasto, where the two rivers 
Juanambu and Janacatu form another basin nearly parallel 
to the Guaitara, leaving in the centre a great mass, which 
unites, so to speak, the Eastern and Western branches, and 
in the centre of which is the lofty mountain of the Yolcano of 
Pasto. Another high, cold, windy branch of the Cordillera 
extends from the paramo of Aponte, in the eastern Cordille- 
ra, which runs east to west between Juanambu and the river 
Mayo, and terminates at the confluence of those rivers with 
the Patia, where all united burst through the western Cordil- 
lera, to carry their waters to the Pacific. This is the point at 
which the Cordillera of the Andes loses, in its western branch, 
its magnificent aspect and Alpine elevation, and begins to 
form the variegated vallies of the interior of New Granada. 
From the Mayo the valley of Patia has its source, between 
the two Cordilleras to the little heights of Popayan, called the 
Cuchilla, which meet the two Cordilleras by a ridge from 900 
to 1,000 toises above the level of the sea, in 2° 24' 1ST. lat. 
The great mass of the Eastern Cordillera has a direction from 
south to northeast, forming a spur, or great promontory from 
1° to 1° 30' K lat. between 76° 20' and 76° 40' W. long., 



11 

where another division of the Cordillera of the Andes has its 
origin, and the three great branches in New Granada are 
formed. That point is of great physical importance, as there 
are situated several lakes, the principal of which is that of 
Las Papas, which give rise to the rivers Caqueta, Magdalena, 
Cauca and Guachicono, whose courses are so different that we 
shall describe them, to give an idea of that important spot. 

The Caqueta flows towards the south-east, which direction 
it keeps until it joins the Amazon, under the name of the 
Yapura, whose mouth we have mentioned in the description 
of the boundaries. The head streams of the Magdalena and 
of the Suasa flow northeast, and begin to form the waters of 
the valley of Neiva. The Cauca flows north on the Cordillera, 
until it reaches the Sierra Nevada (or snowy range) of the 
Coconucos, on a high terrace called Paletara ; and, its course 
being impeded, it turns, inclining to the west, to descend to 
Popayan, and give rise to the vallies of the Cauca. The 
Gruachicono first runs northwest, and then west and southwest, 
to form the Patia, whose waters fall into the Pacific ; while 
the Magdalena and the Cauca pass through the whole territo- 
ry of New Granada, from south to north, and unite in the 
Province of Mompox, to bear their waters to the Caribbean 
Sea ; those of the Caqueta, lost in the Amazon, flow into the 
Atlantic by the eastern part of the Continent ; and those of 
the Guachicono, united with the Patia, fall into the Pacific. 
There is scarcely in the world so important a point in physi- 
cal geography, as the great knot of the cordillera of the 
Andes, where its eastern chain divides in two, giving origin 
to the central branch, which separates the vallies of Cauca 
from those of Neiva and Mariquita. The eastern cordillera 
follows its direction towards the northeast, to the paramos of 
Pamplona, which we have mentioned as the boundary of New 
Granada and Yenezuela, and where another branch separates 
itself, to form the sierra nevada (or snowy region) of Santa 



12 

Marta, and extends by Perija to the Peninsula of Goajira. 
The central branch, which begins to separate itself from the 
eastern in the Papas, completes its separation in the Yolcano 
of Purace, and proceeds parallel to the waters of the Cauca 
and Magdalena, to the end of the valley of the Cauca, where 
it unites again with the western cordillera, in north latitude 
4° 50', and where the cordillera is cut by the basins of the San 
Jorge, the Cauca, the Atrato and the San Juan, giving all 
that country a peculiar aspect, which will be described in an- 
other part, and where are found the richest gold mines in New 
Granada. The branches which run between the Magdalena 
and the Cauca, are lost at the confluence of those rivers above 
Mompox. Others extend to the Gulf of Guacuba in Darien, 
the mouth of the Atrato ; and the western branch, depressed, 
so to speak, by the waters of the Atrato, San Juan, Baudo, 
and San Miguel, loses its gigantic height, and offers, at differ- 
ent points, an easy passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, 
the most remarkable of these being that of Panama, where 
a railroad has been partly constructed from Colon to Panama ; 
as may be done from San Miguel or Cupica ; between the 
Atrato and San Juan, which will be easily made, or between 
the Atrato and the Baudo ; at which points the cordillera of 
the Andes absolutely loses its type, and is a mere agglomera- 
tion of hills, cut through by the waters. In passing through 
the Isthmus of Darien, and that of Panama, the western cor- 
dillera inclines to the north, and parallel to the coast of the 
Atlantic extends through the States of Central America. 

We have now given the form and direction of the three 
great branches of the cordillera of the Andes, in New Granada, 
the points at which they separate, and that where the central 
and accidental branches re-unite. The physical aspect of each 
branch may be saicl to be preserved in the central and eastern 
branches, for there are found the snowy regions of Chiles 
and Cumbal, in the Province of Tuquerres, the Volcano of 



13 

Pasto, whose summit reaches the region of perpetual ice ; the 
paramo* of Sotara, a volcano almost extinct, whose top is 
covered with snow a portion of the year ; the snowy cordillera 
of Coconucos, which consists of five large mountains, the most 
western of which is known as the Purace, and contains the 
volcano of that name, which in 1849 lost its summit and 
opened a crater 80 or 100 metres in diameter. Proceeding 
by the central branch, we find the snowy regions of Iluila, 
Tolima and Euiz, which we will attend to in the description 
of the provinces in which they are situated. The eastern cor- 
dillera, although it rises to the region of perpetual snow in 
some places, has no snowy regions in the interior, but only at 
its extremity, in the provinces of Santa Marta and Eio Hacha. 
The topographic committee which is now passing through the 
whole territory of New Granada, and which, while I was Pres- 
ident of the Republic, was conducted by the skillful engineer, 
Col. Codazi, will form, within a few years, a complete work. 
In the meantime I have thought it useful to present this little 
memoir, which I have formed from my observations by com- 
paring them with those of several Granadans and foreigners 
who have travelled in the country, on all which I have exer- 
cised my own judgment. 

Let us now proceed to consider the territory of the Repub- 
lic, forming large basins and high table-lands, to which the 
Cordilleras give origin, and the great rivers, which, rising 
on their summits, cross the country in many directions. 

The eastern cordillera of New Granada, from the heights of 
Mocoa above San Miguel and Eio de Oro, mentioned in the 
description of the boundaries, to the paramo of Pamplona, is 
the first element of the great eastern basins of the Caqueta, 

* It has been found convenient in the translation, to transfer from the original 
the Spanish word " Paramo]'' which is commonly translated desert, but, as used 
in New Granada, has no exact equivalent in English. It signifies an elevated re- 
gion, cold, windy, barren and uninhabitable. 



14 

Guainia and Meta, which join those of the Rio Negro, Amazon 
and Orinoco, taking in a larger sense the conformation of the 
continent in its central part. The basin of the Caqueta is sur- 
rounded from the southern part, by the branch of the Cordil- 
lera which descends from the eastern, from the origin of San 
Miguel until it disappears in the Amazon, between the rivers 
Napo of the Ecuador and Putumayo of New Granada ; by 
the east the cordillera of Aracuara, and by the north that of 
Tunahi, which rises in the Andes, and divides the basin of 
Guainia or Eio Negro. This basin bears these two names, 
because the Rio Negro is called the Guainia until its con- 
fluence with the natural course of the Casiquiare, and is sepa- 
rated from the basin of the Meta by the mountains of the river 
Guavire, in which the river Inirida has its source, and on the 
east by the mountains which give rise to the river Atabapo, 
which flows through only Granadan territory. The basin of 
the Meta, which is the largest, follows the preceding, and may 
be considered as a part of the great basin of the Orinoco ; and 
I have given it the name of Meta, because that is the largest 
river in that part of the country, although the Guaviare forms 
the great plains of San Martin. 

In the south, there is not, properly speaking, any basin ex- 
cept that of the Patia, formed by the eastern and western Cor- 
dilleras, and the branches of the Cuchilla and Berruecos in the 
north and south. The basin of the Cauca forms two beau- 
ful vallies, from Popayan to Cartago, and is circumscribed by 
the central and western cordilleras, both which unite, as we 
have said, near the fifth degree of north latitude. This ag- 
glomeration of mountains possesses very peculiar forms, as it 
has neither table-lands like those of Tuquerres, Bogota or 
Tunja, nor vallies by which the course of cordilleras may be 
determined. The extent of the territory which we have de- 
scribed is rather more than two degrees of longitude and 
three of latitude ; which, with the chasms and elevations of 



15 

the land, give about 18,200 square miles, or at least 18,000, in 
the part comprehending the Provinces of Cordoba, Medellin, 
and Antioquia, which forms the mountainous basin of the 
Cauca, and in whose heights rise the rivers Samana or Miel, 
and Nare, tributaries of the Magdalena ; the Nechi, and San 
Jorge, (or St. George,) tributaries of the Cauca ; and the 
Guacuba, a tributary of the Atrato. On the western part is 
formed the mountainous basin of the Choco, cut by the San 
Juan, Baudo and San Miguel, flowing to the Pacific, and 
the Atrato running into the Atlantic, mingling its waters in 
the Gnlf of Darien, with those of the Napipi and Guacuba. 
This basin is completely covered with forests of the thickest 
vegetation, under which are rich mines of gold and platina, 
of which we shall speak in another part of this memoir. 

Eeturning to the central division of the country, we will 
now speak of the basin of the Magdalena, formed by the 
great eastern and central Cordilleras, where they separate in 
the paramo of Las Papas, until they reach the plains of the 
Atlantic, in the littoral provinces ; and this basin comprehends 
the beautiful vallies of ISTeiva and Mariquita, and that of the 
lower Magdalena, all which are bathed by the river of that 
name and its branches. The rest of the territory between 
the eastern basin, and that we have described, is a continua- 
tion of elevated table-lands in the Cordillera, until we reach 
the borders of Yenezuela. The basin of Guanenta, formed 
by the rivers Suarez and Sogamoso, forms the territory 
northwest of Bogota, between the great eastern cordillera, 
and the branch which springs from it and runs parallel to 
the Magdalena, and afterwards turns east, to mingle with 
the mountain of Perija, forming two small basins in the 
provinces of Ocana and Upar. 

The remainder of the territory of the republic consists of 
the plains of the Atlantic, between Goajira and the Gulf of 
Darien ; the savannahs of Chiriqui, in the western provinces 



16 

of the Isthmus 'and the shores of the Pacific and Atlantic, 
where several branches of the western cordillera sink in the 
waters of the two oceans. 

Such is "the physical aspect, considered as basins and table- 
lands, formed by the cordilleras and large rivers, whose num- 
ber and size we will now mention. 



PEINCIPAL EIYERS 

The principal rivers of the republic are first, the Caqueta, 
rising in the eastern cordillera, and flowing through the whole 
territory until its confluence with the Amazon. Its largest 
branches are the Pescado, the Caguan, and the Apoponi. 
The Guainia, which is the upper Eio Negro, and by the 
cano, or natural channel of Casiquiare, allows internal naviga- 
tion between the Orinoco and the Amazon, has many branches 
in the territory of New Granada, but none of importance. 
The Putumayo, the most southern, pours its waters into the 
Amazon, where it is called the Solimoes, has for its principal 
affluent the Sotuya. Next, north of the Guainia, is the beau- 
tiful Guaviare, formed of it and the Guayavero ; and its chief 
tributaries are the Inirida, which descends from the moun- 
tains of Tunahi, and the Atabapo, from the heights between 
the Orinoco and the Eio Negro, as an independent group of 
the chains of the cordilleras which we have described. Next 
this river is the Meta, which joins the Orinoco, and receives 
various affluents from the great cordillera, of which we will 
mention only the Chire, Casanare and Lipa. The river 
Vichada is the largest tributary of the Orinoco, not mix- 
ing its waters with the Meta or Guaviare. 

The Magdalena is the stream which has the longest course 
in the republic ; and it has for its tributaries, from the eas- 
tern cordillera, the Suaza, Eio Neiva, Cabrera, Prado, Fuzaga- 



17 

suga, Bogota, Carare, Opon, Sogamoso, Surata and Cesar ; 
and, from the central cordillera, the Plata, the Paez, Saldafia, 
Cuello, Guali, Samana, or Miel, and Nare, which also is 
called Eio Negro, with others of little importance. The 
river Cauca receives the waters of the Piendamo, Ovejas, 
Palo, Amaime, and Vieja, from the central cordillera, and of 
many small rivers from the western, among which we will 
name only the Jamundi. The Cauca, in flowing through An- 
tioquia, receives many streams, of which we consider only 
the following worthy of notice : — The Porce, JSTechi and San 
Jorge. In the western part we have already named the 
principal, the Gruacuba and ISTapipi, which are tributaries of 
the A.trato and the Sucio, the Bebara, which is in its upper 
part, and the Quito. The Baudo has no branches, but the 
San Juan receives the Calima and the Noanamo, with many 
others of small size. In the Isthmus of Darien and Panama 
on the south, the longest streams are the San Miguel and 
Bayano, in the territory of Darien and Panama. The other 
streams are of small importance on both sides. We will men- 
tion only Chagres, on the Atlantic, which has hitherto been 
of great importance as the line of inter-oceanic communication, 
but the railroad has begun to deprive it of its consequence. 
The Zinu is the only river remaining to claim attention on 
the shores of the Atlantic between the Darien and the Mag- 
dalena. 

The rivers which water the territory between the bay of 
Buenaventura and the gulf of Ancon, in the Pacific, deserve 
to be mentioned, because there is hardly in the world such a 
series of streams, which, for an extent of forty-five leagues, 
of 20 to a degree, alternately unite their waters in the deltas, 
so as to make a littoral canal, which allows an interior naviga- 
tion along the whole coast from Buenaventura to Ancon, 
without the necessity of entering the Pacific more than twice. 
The Dagua empties into the bay of Buenaventura, as well as 
2 



18 

the Anchicaya, which unites by an arm with the Kaposo, 
flowing into the Pacific ; and passing in that part the gulf 
of Tortugas, of small extent, we enter the waters of the Ca- 
jambre, whose delta is passed to that of Yurmangui. That 
river is confounded with the Naya, and that with the Micay, 
which communicates with the Saija, and that with the Tim- 
biqui, which joins the mouths of the Napi and Guapi ; and 
this last, with that of the Iscuande, which, by two channels, 
is connected with that of the Tapage, which, by the San- 
quianga, facilitates navigation with the deep Patia. From 
this we pass to the ' gulf of Tumaco, to enter the northern 
mouth of the river Mira, and by its delta pass to the gulf of 
Ancon de Sardinas, south of Cape Manglares, where termi- 
nates the territory of New Granada. 

The mountains in which these rivers rise are as auriferous 
as those of Choco ; and the largest of them is the Patia, 
which, as we have before said, breaks the western cordillera, 
and has for its branches the Telembi and Magui, in the pro- 
vince of Barbacoas ; Guaitara, Juanambu and Mayo, which 
fall from the table-lands of Tdquerres and Pasto; and the 
Guachicono, and Quilcace, which are its principal fountains 
in the eastern cordillera. Of those of the western cordillera 
the Sajandi hardly deserves notice. 

Such are the names and descriptions of the principal rivers 
of New Granada. 



POUTS, BAYS AND LAKES. 

I will now proceed to give a notice of the Ports, Bays 
and Lakes of New Granada, following the same order which 
was adopted in speaking of the boundaries of the Eepublic, 



19 

on the coasts and frontiers. From the bay of Calabozo, in 
Goajira, situated in the Gulf of Maracaibo, until passing the 
peninsula, we find no regular ports, although in Cojoro and 
other points of the coast, they might be established. Bahia 
Honda is the first port on the northeastern coast of New 
Granada ; and there the conquerors thought of founding a 
city by the name of St. Mary : but the want of potable water 
made them abandon their intention, because it would have 
been necessary to construct cisterns. That bay is a fine one, 
protected from the strong winds from the east and north, and 
situated in K lat. 12° 20' and W. long. 71° 44'. Next this 
bay is that of Portete, east of Cape la Vela, in lat. 12° 10' 
and long. 72°. From that bay to Santa Marta there is no 
other favored by nature, only several roads, among which 
are Eio Hacha and Dibulla. In the former of the two places 
mentioned is the port of the province of that name, the city 
of Eio Hacha, one of those which have the greatest export 
trade in New Granada, notwithstanding the want of moles 
and the difficulties in loading and unloading, caused by the 
waves. Its geographical position is in lat. 11° 85' and long. 
73° 18'. The port of Dibulla is better than that of Rio Hacha, 
and is in lat. 11° 20', and whose situation I cannot give 
confidently, and 73° 30' W. long., following the coast to- 
wards the west Santa Marta is a beautiful port, in a deep 
and well sheltered bay, in which magnificent wharves may be 
built for the embarkation and debarkation of produce and 
merchandise. The coast, at that point, changes its direction, 
running to the east for a distance of twenty nautical miles, 
to the shores of Cienaga, where is the mouth of the lake of 
Santa Marta, the largest in New Granada, as its greatest ex- 
tent from south to north is 25 miles, and from east to west 11, 
and is connected by deep channels with lake Pajaral, which 
contains about seven square miles, and that of Cuatro Bocas, 
two square miles. This beautiful lake is formed by the 



20 

waters of the Magdalena mingled with those of the Atlan- ■ 
tic, and may be considered as within the delta of the Magda- 
lena, as the channels of San Antonio, Eenegado, Remolino 
and CI arm, are other arms of that river, which empty into 
that lake, commonly called • Cienega. The waters which fall 
from the snow}" region of Santa Marta, come from the east 
to the lake ; and from the mountains which form the chain of 
the Upar, a ramification of the snowy region, flow other 
rivers of small importance. This lake is of little depth ; and, 
with care, might be navigated by light steamboats, which are 
adapted to the navigation of the Magdalena. Beyond the 
centre of the delta of the Magdalena is the bay of Sabanilla, 
situated in lat. 10° 56' and long. 75° 0' 80", according to 
King, and at one of the mouths of the river. This port will 
be most frequented in the course of time, for the interior 
navigation of the Magdalena, as we shall see when we come 
to the description of the province of Sabanilla. Next fol- 
lows the magnificent port of Carthagena, in K lat. 10° 25' 
and "W. long. 75° 29' 45", and whose beautiful bay is the best 
on the coasts watered by the Caribbean Sea in New Granada, 
and one of the best in all the Atlantic. All the western 
coast of the province of Carthagena has roads and landing 
places until we reach the gulf of Darien : but the most im- 
portant are the ports of Zapote, in the bay of Zispata, and 
the gulf of Morrosquillo, on the coast of Tolu, the former of 
which is a port of foreign trade. When we come to speak of 
the gulf of Darien, we shall say that it contains the ports of 
Turbo, Guacuba and Candelaria, and, for small vessels and 
steamers, those of Quibdo, Napipi and Murindo being 
called to anticipate for them a commercial movement with 
the interior of the western provinces of the continent, and 
between the two oceans, rivalling the other interoceanic routes' 
of the Isthmus of Panama and America. 
• The coast of the Isthmus, from where the delta of the Atra- 



21 - 

to terminates, to the port of Portobelo, has good roads and 
harbors all along the shore, which is inhabited only by the 
savages of Darien, the most important of which is Mandinga. 
The harbor of Portobelo is excellent, and was the most fre- 
quented of all in the two first centuries after the conquest : 
but in consequence of the difficulty of the land passage to 
Panama, it has lost its importance. Chagres ruined it, 
which is only a bad roadstead, and which will soon cease to be 
spoken of ; for the Isthmus railroad, having fixed its terminus 
in the bay of Limones, called by some Navy Bay, that will 
be the principal port of the Isthmus on the Atlantic, in 
which it has been ordered that the new city rising there 
shall bear the name of Aspinwall, as a testimony of gratitude 
to the wortlry merchant of New York, who led the enterprise 
commenced in 1849. The port of Aspinwall will become an 
important city in the commercial world. 

In the western part of the coast of New Granada, there is 
no other port of any importance but the Bocas del Toro, 
in the bay of Almirante, commonly called the lake of Chi- 
riqui. 

Here conclude the list and description of the harbors and 
bays of the Atlantic coast ; and we will now pass to those of 
the Pacific, beginning at the most western part of the coast 
of the Isthmus. 

Alange and Montijo have been made ports of foreign com- 
merce by the national government, in the provinces of Chi- 
riqui and Veraguas. They are situated in the Archipelago 
of Montijo or Yeraguas. As well on the coast of the main 
land as on'the islands, there is good anchorage for ships, and 
the best of them is, perhaps, that of San Juan, in the island 
of Coiba. The bay of Panama, in the gulf of the Isthmus 
north of the Archipelago of Pearls, is of great extent 
and has also good anchorage, especially at the island of 
Taboga ; but it would be very expensive to construct 



22 

wharves, necessary on account of the shallowness of the 
water, which extends to a distance of a mile from the city. 
It will be made a good harbor as soon as the completion of 
the railroad shall give Panama all its importance. On the 
coast of Choco are the bay of Cupica and the ports of San 
Francisco Solano, Palmar, and Charambira. The first of these 
and the two last, may be connected with the Napipi and the 
Atrato, to establish interoceanic routes. On none of these 
is there a town, and the port of Charambira is visited only 
by small coasting vessels. When the bar of Charambira is 
passed, its bay is a very fine one, at the mouths of the San 
Juan. This bay is succeeded by that of Malaga, which is 
protected by the island of Palinas, and might easily be 
brought into connection with Charambira and Buenaventura. 
That magnificent bay is the best on the Pacific coast of Co- 
lumbia, and lies in 3° 38' K lat. and 77° 10' W. long. I 
have in another place described the coast and its natural 
canals, formed by the deltas of the rivers which bathe the 
shores of the Pacific. There are among them several harbors 
more or less deep, the principal of which are the Gruapi, in 2° 
85' N. lat. and Izcuande, in 2° 82', the main entrance to 
which is by the river Tapaje. Farther south are the bay of 
Pasa-caballos, near the mouth of Satinga in lat. 2° 80' north, 
and the port of Tumaco, in 1° 38' north. In the northeast 
part of the island of Gorgona is an excellent harbor called 
Trinidad. 

We have now to speak only of the Lakes, which are found 
in the interior of the Eepublic, to conclude this chapter on 
physical geography. 

In the province of Upar are the lakes of Zapatosa and 
Adentro, formed by the waters of the river Cesar. The for- 
mer is about a mile square ; and the latter rather more. 
They are connected by an arm, or by the course of the stream 
named, and empty into the Magdalena in 9° 1ST. lat. at the 



23 

bifurcation of that river at the mouth of the Loba, by which 
it connects itself with the Cauca, that still runs in that lati- 
tude parallel with the Magdalena. Between the Cauca and 
the Nechi are other lakes, the largest of which is that of Ca- 
ceres in N. lat. 7° 45' and W. Ion. 75° 30'. In the interior 
are none worthy of notice except that of Tota, in the province 
of Tunja, which contains about six square miles, and those of 
Fuquene and Guatavita, in the provinces of Bogota and 
Zipaquira, the former eight square miles and the latter less 
than one, but celebrated as the place into which the Indians 
threw their treasures at the time of the conquest. 

On the high table-lands of the Andes there are small lakes 
which are generally the sources of different rivers ; and the 
most remarkable of them are the Paletara, eastward of the 
snowy region of the Coconucos, and those of Las Papas, which 
give rise to the rivers Cauca and Magdalena, and also to the 
Mocoa, the principal head-stream of the Caqueta, as well as to 
theGuachicono, which is that of the Patia. These lakes are 
several, surrounded by high crests, not rising to the region 
of perpetual snow, and called Paramo de las Papas. 

On the coast of the Pacific is the lake of Chimbusa, which 
is on the delta of the Patia, and might serve to form a chan- 
nel which would facilitate navigation from the gulf of Tuma- 
co to the interior of the Patia, to reach the rich neighborhood 
of Barbacoas. The Cocha is in the cordillera of Pasto, which 
is considered as the head-stream of the Putumayo ; also that of 
Guayabeno, along which runs the boundary between New 
Granada and Ecuador, between the Putumayo and the Napo. 
These lakes, according to the reports of several travelers and 
officers of the army, may contain about nine square miles 
each. The other lakes known along the banks of the Gua- 
viare and other rivers of the eastern basins, are not sufficient- 
ly known to allow us to speak of their dimensions and posi- 
tions. 



24 

I ought to complete this description of the physical geogra- 
phy, with a geological notice ; but it would require profound 
study and a scientific examination to do it justice ; and 1 
must limit myself to those general ideas which I have been 
able to form of the country, in the different journeys I have 
made, and a few excursions to the Cordilleras. 

Geographers and geologists know, that the great chain of 
the Andes must have been formed simultaneously by the 
cooling of the earth in that part of the world ; and in all the 
lofty summits of the paramos and volcanos the primitive plu- 
tonic rocks are discovered, the gneiss prevailing, which shows 
the masses have been raised from the interior of the earth by 
means of the action of volcanos. Some geologists have 
thought, that the great movement of the earth, in forming 
the series of the cordilleras which run along the western 
coasts of the two Americas on the one part, and prolong 
themselves, on the other, to the Burman empire, following the 
direction of a great semicircle of the earth, produced the most 
marked characteristics, which are the results of the most re- 
cent catastrophes suffered by our planet. My mind ought 
to be satisfied with this theory, because wise and profound 
men have declared in its favor ; but, on considering the geo- 
logical formation of New Granada, I find that the great chain 
of cordilleras, which extends from Patagonia to California, 
does not pass through New Granada, indicating that there is 
the centre, whence part off the sub-Andine branches and 
mountains. Considering the groups of mountains which rise 
north of this great continent, it appears that the movement of 
the earth displayed itself by raising the first chain of moun- 
tains, whose summits are all the Antilles, and whose bases are 
a submarine cordillera, which serves as the limit of the Carib- 
bean sea, and shows plainly that there was the beginning of 
the movement of the great cordillera of the Andes, which in 
my opinion is the eastern chain. 



25 

The snowy region of Santa Marta then comes as another 
culminating point of the great rising of the earth, and my 
theory is completed by the western rising, which gives origin 
to the mountains of the central and western chains of Choco. 

Assuming this movement of the earth from north to south, 
it is easy to see that the igneous currents, combined with the 
cooling of the land, might give origin to that continent, and 
that it must end in Patagonia in a sharp angle, in consequence 
of the diminution of the volcanic or gaseous forces which pro- 
duced the phenomenon. 

The primitive parts of New Granada being formed in this 
manner, and simultaneously with the mountains of Parirna, 
and those which in the north gave origin to America, it 
only remains to us to examine the strata which cover this 
shell of the earth, and the advantages which may be derived 
from them by man. 

Gneiss, granite, porphyry and basalt are the primitive 
rocks of the plutonic formation, which are discovered on our 
high elevations, and from which the movement of waters 
has not been able to separate other materials, which geologists 
call transition. 

From Tuquerres by Aponte, Las Papas, to- Bogota, and 
at many points in the Central Cordillera, as at Guanacas, Las 
Moras and Quindio, are seen rocks of gneiss, micaceous 
schistus, and specimens of a talcose slate, such as I have ob- 
served in the high mountains of Antioquia, near Marinilla. 
In the cordilleras of Pasto and Popayan, as in that of Neiva, 
above Villa Vieja and on the river Cabrera, are found masses 
of porphyry, trappe and basalt, on the declivities of the moun- 
tains, which are active volcanoes ; and those rocks are so dis- 
posed as to show that they proceeded from the bottom of the 
volcano and were thrown out during an eruption of which 
there are no records, and no other indications than the marks 
left by the catastrophe, in the superposition of various rocks 



26 

whose bases are basaltic trappes in Purace, Pasto, Sotara 
and Huila. I have hardly been able to discover, on a few 
high mountains, fossil shells, which prove to be of calcareous 
earth, and perhaps of those called Devonian. 
. The high table lands, as those of Tuquerres, Bogota, Tunja 
and Pamplona, abound in calcareous and carboniferous soils, 
sandstone being very common. On those great table-lands is 
found rock salt ; and above all on that of Bogota, in a very 
extensive region, from Zipaquira to Cumaral, on the side of 
the eastern cordillera, which sends its waters to the Meta ; 
and it may be said, that in an E. S. East direction, going from 
Zipaquira, passing by Nemocon, Boita, Salitre and Caqueza, 
and thence to Cumaral, in San Martin. Those lands must 
have been submarine, before they were raised to the elevation 
of 1360 toises above the level of the sea ; and on their side are 
carboniferous lands, which clearly prove the antiquity of the 
Columbian hemisphere. 

The valleys of New Granada are covered with alluvions, 
ancient and modern ; and we at the same time meet with 
tertiary formations at their bases, and in the beds of their 
rivers, which sometimes are seen to have divided the moun- 
tains until they have broken through even the granitic rocks, 
to bear their waters to the ocean. 

To proceed further, and to give geological views of the 
country which we describe, would expose us to the charge 
of changing our plan, and of renouncing the task which we 
have undertaken. Materials so greatly abound, that this 
alone might claim the attention of the learned, to discover 
the secrets of nature, and the manner in which these conti- 
nents were formed, which, after so many thousands of years, 
have become the habitation of man, whose investigating spirit 
is aroused, and every day discovers new secrets in the inert 
matter and the organic objects which surround him- 



27 




CLIMATE. VEGETATION. ANIMALS. MINERALS. THE 
HUMAN RACE. 

The climate of New Granada is constant in respective 
places, in consequence of the intertropical geographical posi- 
tion, geological formation and the actual state of vegetation. 
There are no seasons like those of the boreal and austral 
zones : but those commonly called summer and winter may 
be denominated the Dry season and the Rainy. The con- 
figuration of the land and its geological formations, combined 
with the influence of the heavenly bodies, and the vegetation 
of the mountains, valleys and coasts, determine these seasons 
in a very distinct manner. In the territories comprehended 
by the table-lands and valleys which occur between the East- 
ern and Western Cordilleras, from the southern to the north- 
ern boundaries, and in the central part as far as the provinces 
of Antioquia, Medellin and Cordova, there are two dry sea- 
sons and two rainy ones, the dry commencing at the ap- 
proximation of the solstices, and the rainy at that of the 
equinoxes. Each continues about ninety days. In the dry 
season the climate is more healthful ; and that is the principal 
time when crops are harvested. Under the letter A, at the 
close of this Memoir, will be found an essay which I wrote 
in 1848, and which will complete the notices that I am able 
to give on the climate and certain atmospheric phenomena. 

The eastern basins and the low lands of the provinces of 
the Atlantic only have one dry and one rainy season, each of 



23 

six months : the rainy commonly at the June solstice and the 
dry at that of December. In the Isthmus of Panama are the 
same dry and rainy seasons : ibut we may be assured, that the 
dry season does not begin until twenty days after the Decern- ■ 
ber solstice, and ends twenty days before that of July, whence 
the rainy season is longer than the dry. On all the coast of 
the Pacific from Cupica to the southern boundary of the Re- 
public, as also in the interior of Choco and Darien, from the 
south to the north, to Porto Bello, there is no dry season, and 
it rains all the year : which presents a contrast with the coasts 
of Peru, where it never rains. This seems to indicate, that the 
causes which have an influence in Peru to remove the vapors 
from the southward, cause in the north, in the territory of 
which we are treating, the constant rainy season. P/y consider- 
ing the shape of the earth at the extremity of Columbia, above 
the Pacific, it will be plainly seen, that the clouds must be 
suspended in their course over the mountains of that country, 
and be converted into rain ; and that those mountains impede 
the north winds from passing easily to the Pacific, and on 
the contrary increase the watery element of the atmosphere, 
to produce those constant rains, always accompanied with 
discharges of electricity. 

It is also worthy of notice in the seasons spoken of, that, 
in the countries in which the two rainy and the two dry sea- 
sons exist, they are not uniform, except at a certain elevation. 

It may be considered as fixed, that, from the elevation of 
260 metres above the level of the sea to 8100, the seasons are 
divided as I have said: but, from 3100 metres to the" highest 
points known, it is quite the contrary. When the dry season 
prevails in those places, the great elevations are covered with 
clouds and there are violent storms, accompanied with hail ; 
it is the period when there are floods in the rivers which 
flow from the Cordilleras ; the level of the perpetual snows is 
raised on the snowy Cordilleras : but in the time of the rainy 



29 

season, the Cordilleras are dry, there are no storms,, and the 
cold is more moderate. 

The greatest heat in New Granada, medium rate, is 80° 2 
centrigrade, or 86° 6 Fahrenheit; and in inhabited parts of 
the cordillera 7° centigrade, or 44° 6 Fahr. 

A series of levels which I made, in the course of many 
years of observations, by means of barometrical pressures, 
have enabled me to form a table, which accompanies this 
Memoir, under the letter B, to which I have added different 
calculations by celebrated men, that they may be compared. 
There are certain remarkable differences, which obliged me 
to repeat my observations ; but, always finding the same re- 
sults, I have not reformed my works by those, although so 
much respect is clue to learned men so distinguished as Hum- 
boldt, Calclas, and Bouguer. They themselves do not agree 
with one another. 

The same may also be said of the observations which have 
served to fix certain latitudes and longitudes, which the 
reader will find in the tables. In this class of labors I have 
generally conformed with the notes which I possess, of certain 
observations made by the celebrated Caldas, my countryman, 
whose works were taken to Spain by General Enrile, after 
that learned man had been shot by the order of General Mo- 
rillo, the re-conqueror of New Granada; and those precious- 
manuscripts, doubtless now remain, in six large boxes, in the 
archives of Madrid. 

This brief episode may be allowed in speaking of the geo- 
graphy of my country, for the knowledge of which that un- 
fortunate philosopher performed important labors ; who, be- 
fore any other person, discovered the mode of measuring 
altitudes .by means' of boiling water, and whose first essays 
give a result similar to those most recently obtained by Euro- 
peans. 

The hottest place which I have found, in my travels, is 



30 

Ocana ; where I have seen the thermometer at different times, 
in the shade and in the open air, on the bank of the Magda- 
lena, at 40° centigrade, or 104° Fahrenheit. 



VEGETATION. 

The vegetation of New Granada varies with the degrees of 
heat in the climate, and the geological conformation of the 
mountains. According to the observations which I have 
made, and those of the celebrated Caldas, it may be decided 
that the limits of trees extend to 3,365 metres, or 11,040 
English -feet ; that of vegetation to 4,328.5 metres, or 14,217 
feet ; and barren sands from this point to-the lowest of per- 
petual snow, 4,741.48 metres, or 15,557 feet. 

In describing the different provinces, I shall give a general 
view of the vegetation of New Granada, regretting that I 
have not now the botanical notes sent me by the distinguish- 
ed botanist, Don Juan Maria Cespedes, that I might arrange 
and publish them : but if I should have time, I will hereafter 
perform that labor, which will serve as a basis for those which 
may be undertaken by such Granadan young men as are de- 
voted to that important science. 

Magnificent palm trees are found in New Granada, from 
the shores of the ocean to the elevation of 2,600 metres, or 
8,531 feet above the level of the sea. Cinchonas of different 
kinds exist in all parts of the country ; but that most highly 
valued for quinine, cinchonine and quinidine grows between 
2,600 and 3,000 metres, or between 8,530 and 9,543 feet above 
the level of the sea. My uncle and teacher, Dr. Manuel 
Maria de Arboleda, classified the Quinas of New Granada, 
in agreement with the celebrated botanist Mutis, and Colonel 
Caldas, in the following manner : 



31 



TABLE 
of the names and properties of the Quinas of Commerce. 

QUINA. 



Orange-colored. 
Primitive. 



la. 
Lancifolia. 
Oficinalis. 



Aromatic. 

Febrifuge. 

Balsamic. 

Antidote. 

Nervous. 



Red. 

Secondary. 



Yellow. 
Substituted. 



IN BOTANY. 
CINCHONA. 



2a. 

Oblongifolia. 



3a. 
Cordifolia. 



IN MEDICINE. 
BITTER. 



Austere. 

Astrigent. 

Antiseptic. 

Policrest. 

Muscular. 



Pure. 

Acivarado. 
Cathartic. 
Bitter. 
Humoral. 



COMMON PROPERTIES 

Febrifuge. 

Anti-putrid. 

Tonic. 

Strengthening. 

Anti-emetic. 

Tanning. 



White. 
Foreign. 



4a. 
Ovalifolia. 



Severe. 

Soapy. 

Rhyptic. 

Prophylactic. 

Visceral. 



The Mosses are of various colors, and cover not only the 
trunks of the trees, but also the rocks, and mingle with the 
grasses. The country is extremely rich in this class of plants, 
and to it belongs the beautiful Bambusa, commonly called 



82 

Guadua. The Encinas are handsome and sightly ; and by 
the side of the Cedrela, make an admirable contrast. The 
Lichens alternate with phanagamous plants, and grow almost- 
up to the region of perpetual snow. The Caucho, which 
yields the gum-elastic, is abundant, and of three species. 
That which grows between 1° and 8° of north latitude is the 
best, and may be compared with that of Para. In the Andes 
are seen the strawberry, or fragaria vesca of the Alps, wil- 
lows, bigonias, cypresses and encinas, which resemble the 
northern vegetation ; while on their acclivities grow the inter- 
tropical fruits, as bananas, sugar-cane and zapote ; odoriferous 
gums and medicinal resins are abundant ; and of the balsam 
commonly called Peruvian, we have the species Miroxylum 
and Mutis, which was classed by Mutis as Peruiferum, the 
Pubescens, called Tache ; and that of Tolu, Miroxylum To- 
luiferum. Another variety called by Dr. Arbolecla, Popayan 
or Popayaniferum, differs from all the others. There are 
magnificent trees for building-timber and cabinet-work, which 
cover the soil of New Granada. There are also trees, from a 
single trunk of which canoes are made, in one piece, large 
enough to contain 8000 kilogrammes (that is 17,504!- pounds) 
of sugar or honey. 

New Granada has no sandy wastes nor barren cordilleras. 
It is entirely covered with vegetation ; and we only find in 
the provinces of Pamplona, the paramo of Betas and the 
mines of La Baja, where the vegetation is very poor, in con- 
sequence of the geological formation being destitute of vege- 
table earth ; and a portion of the Yalley of Neiva, be- 
tween Yilleta and the river Cabrera, where the land is sandy, 
and covered with the debris of porphyry, which appear to 
have been brought down from the cordillera by water. The 
eastern basins are as rich in vegetation as Brazil and Guy- 
ana, with which countries they are confounded. 



83 



MINEEALS. 

New Granada is rich, in minerals. It contains mines of 
silver, gold, platina, copper, lead, iron, mercury and anti- 
mony, among other metals ; of lime, potash, soda, (among 
which are rich mines of rock-salt,) magnesia, and alumine, 
among the unmetallic alkalies; of silex, feldspat, silicated 
minerals with a base of glucine, (of which are the valuable 
emerald mines,) among the silicious and silicated ; of native 
sulphur, fossil coal, bitumen, asphaltum and fossil resin, 
among the unmetallic combustibles. 

There are other minerals which I do not particularly men- 
tion, although some of them deserve notice, as they exist in 
such small quantities, that it seems unnecessary to name them 
in this work. In the description of the respective portions 
of the country in the third part of thU memoir^ I shall give 
such notices as may be interesting to the commerce and pros- 
perity of New Granada, while treating of the political divi- 
sions of the Eepublic. 

If the cordilleras and plains on the boundary of Brazil 
were well examined, it is not to be doubted that discoveries 
would be made of diamonds, and some other of the produc- 
tions of that country, as the gold and other mineral sub- 
stances are analogous ; and in the animal and vegetable 
kingdoms are most of the species and genera there known, so 
that a treatise on the natural history of one country may be 
considered as belonging to the other. New Granada has, 
however, advantages over Brazil, in the variety of its cli 
mates, caused by the lofty mountains which cross it, and in 
its position on two oceans, the Atlantic and Pacific, upon 
which lie the Isthmuses of Panama, Darien and Choco. 



34 



ANIMALS. 



The animals belonging to New Granada are known in 
natural history. I will give a notice of those classes, families, 
and orders with which I am acquainted, in order to afford a 
general view ; and, as the vulgar names give no idea of them, 
I shall present the scientific classification which they have 
received from naturalists, in the following table. It is not 
complete, as there are many animals still unknown, especially 
among the fishes, reptiles, mollusca and insects, in which the 
country is very rich, as well as in vegetation. Among Mam- 
mifera, I believe, we shall find no new order, although the 
genera and species are very far from being perfectly classified. 



Vulgar Names. 

Araguato 6 Capuchino. 
Mono miedoso. 
Mono de Andaqui. 
Mono Cari-pelado. 
Machin. 
Mono Colorado. 
Mono carita blanca. 
Mono Dafiino. 
Mico, Macaco. 
Titi verde de Andaqui. 
Titi amarillo. 
Titi de Cartagena. 
Mono indio. 
Mono mezclilla. 
Mono chico. 
Mono del Caqueta. 
Mono leoncito. 
f Tigre, Jaguar. 
Tigre negro. 
Pantera. 

Tigre encaramado.* 
Leon, Puma. 
Leon negro. 
Gato Montes. 
Tigrillo. 

Nutria Pescadora. 
Nutria del Magdalena. 
Nutria del sur. 
Oso negro. f 
Oso frontlno. 
Perro Gozque. 
Perro Cazador. 
Lobo, 

Zorro Colorado. 
Zorro negro. 
Cuati. 
Comadreja. 
Huron. 
Mapurito. 
Zorrillo. 



Simia Urslna. 

Simla Belzebuth. 

Simla Lagothrix. 
MONODELPHOS Mono Cari-pelado. Simia Chiropotes. 

Simia JUbifrans. 

Simia Vanegaia. 

Cebus Chiropus. 

Genero Sajous. 
QUADRUMANA. -{ Mico, Macaco. Cebus Robushts. 

Simia Sciurea. 

Callitrix *1ntomopka,gus. 

Simia Oedipus. 

Simia Melanocephola. 

Callitrix Tncanescens. 

Cebus Cinn-ascens. 

Simia Lugens. 

Hildas Leoninus. 

Fells Onza. 

Fells Nigra. 
1st CLASS. Pantera. i Felis Pardus 1 

_ Fells Leopardus 7 
MAMMIFERA. Leon, Puma. | Felis Cuncolor. 

Fells Discolor. 

Fells Pardalis. 

Fells Tlgrina. 

Lulra Brasiliensis. 

Lutm Insularis. 

Lutra Pei-uviensis. 
CARNIVORA. Oso negro.f i Ursus Jlrctos ? 

Ursus Omatus. 

Canis .Hmerlcanus 

Cam's Verfagns . 

Canis Mexlcanus 

Genera Canis. 
I Genero Canis. 
\Nasua Subvrsun. 
\Mustela. Cigognian. 
j Mustela Hiiro. 
\ Mephitis Jlmencana. 
I A new genus, between 
! Mustela and Mils. 

* They have not been well determined. The)' are found in the east — Neiva and Man- 
quita. 
f Smaller than the Oso Frontino, and inhabits low places. 



35 



CLASS I. 

MAMMIFERA. 



' INSECTIVORA. 
CHEIROPTERA. 

MARSUPIA. 



RODENTIA. 



EDENTATA. 



PACHIDERMATA. 



RUMINANTIA. 



Order 1st. 



AVES 
A.CCIPITORES 



Order '2d. 



AVES 
PASSERES. 



Erizo. 
Murcielagos, varios. 



Runcho, Chucha. 

-s Rata de Monte. 
1 Chucha de Agua. 

Ardita. 

Chucurita. 

Ratas, Ratones y Raton- 
sitos. 

Nutria Anfibia. 

Puerco Espin. 

Conejo. 

Liebre. 

Lanchas. 

Cui 6 Curi. 

Guatines. 

Guagua. 

Guagua, Conejo. 

Perico ligero. 

.\rmadillo. 

Oso Hormiguero. 

Oso Melero, 6 colmenero 
r Sahino. 
) Tatabro. 
"\ Danta. 

( Danta del Paramo. 
rCiervo. 

Venado bianco. 

Soche. 

Soche de Paramo. 



DIURNJE. 



NOCTURNE. 



Family 1st. 
DENTIROSTRES. 



Family 2d. 
FISSIROSTRES. 



Venado cachi-pelado. 
. Venado cachienvainado 

Ballenas. 

Manati. 

Toninas. 

Peje Espada. 

Condor. 

Buitre Condor pardo. 

Aguila Real. 

Aguila blanca. 

Rei de los Gallmazos. 

Gual a. 

Gallinazo. 

Aguila. 

Aguilucho. 

Gavilan. 

Halcon. 
.Halconcito. 

Gallina Antigua. 

Lechuza. 

Mochuelo. 

Lechuza blanca. 

Dorotea. 

Mirla. 

Pico de Plata. 

Azomita, Azulejo, Cer- 
raja. 

Charo Arrendajo. 

P:imavera. 

Verdacho de Panama. 

Cardenal, Titiribi 

Azomita. 

Cotinga. 

Cucarachero. 

Campanero. 

Trompetero. 

Gallito de Fuzagasuga 

Golondrina Nocturna. 

Golondrina. 

Golondrina de agua. 

Tijereta. 



Genus Insectivnnim. 
Vampirios, Molosse. 
Noctilion,Nyctinonse, vespcr- 

tilion. 
Didelphis Marsupialis. 
Didelphis. 

Didelphis Cbironectes. 
Siurus Jlestuans. 
Maeroxus Variabilis. 
Genero bhts, more than 30 

varieties. 
Genero Myopotamos. 

Coendus. 
Lepus Brasilicnsis . 
Lepus Capensis. 
Hydroecherus Casibura. 
.dnoeina. 

Dasyproda Jlcuschy 
Coelogenus Subniger. 
Coelogenus Fulvus. 
Jlcheus Jli. 

Dasypus Jipar Colombianus 
Myrmecophaga Jubata. 
Myrinecopha ga Didactyla. 
J'Hvolyhs Labiatus. 
Dtcotyles Torquatus. 
Tapirus Jimericanus. 
Tapirus Roulinii Panchique 
Cervus Peronii. 
Cwvus Mexicanus. 
Cervus Colombianus. 
A variety of the Jinticva- 

nis of Orvigni. 
Cervus Nemoralis. 
Cervus Capreolus. 
'Blaenoplera Gibbar. 
\Manatus Jlniericanus. 
^Delphinus Tonina. 
\Monodon Mtmoceros. 
Vultur Giyphus. 
Variety of the G>-yphus. 
Vultur Barbasus. 
Vultur .fllbus. 
Vultur Papa. 
Vultur Aura. 
Vultur Jnta. 
Falco .flmericanus. 
Falc Brasiliensis. 
Falco Comunis. 
Falco ,/leruginosus. 
Falco Gentilis. 
Strix Cayanensis. 
Strix Mexicana. 
Strix Clamator. 
Strix Nevia. 
Genero Muicicapa. 
7'urdus. 
G. Motacilla. 

Insectivora not well deter- 
mined. 
Turdus. 

Tanagra SephcoUn: 
Tanagra. 

Tanagra Cardinal. 
Musicapa. 

Cotinga Pompadour. 
Regidus. 

Ampelis Caranculta. 
Coracina Scutata._ 
Pipra Eupicala. 
Hirundo Nocturna. 
Hirundn Flaviventer. 
Hirundo Fulva. 
Variety of Hirundo Eufa 



Order 2d. 



AVES 
PASSERES. 



Family 3d. 
CONIROSTRES. 



One Family. 
SYNDACTYLY. 

Family 4th. 
TENUIROSTRES. 



Order 3d. 



AVES 
SCANSORIJE. 



SCANSORES 



Order 4th. 



GALLINA- 

C£M. 



Order 5th. 



GRALLATO- 
RliE. 



Anterior toes united 
by a short mem- 
brane at the base. 



2d. Division. 

Toes without an in- 
ter-digital mem- 
brane. 

Family 2d. 

PRESSIROSTRES. 



Family 3d. 
CULTRIROSTRES. 



Family 4th. 
LONGIROSTRES. 

MACRODACTY- 

LES. 



"Goriones. 
Chicaos, Casiques. 

Turpiales 6 
Trupiales, 
varias especies. 

Viudita. 
Canario. 
Tordillo 
,""Tucucito. 
J Tornasol. 
{ Tornasilito. 
/ Chupa ilor. 
J Esmeraldita. 
( Colibri. 
Carpintero. 
Coli amarillo. Dios-te- 

de, dos dares. 
Chamon. 
Judio. 
Maizero. 
Garrapatero. 
Guacamayo 6 . 

Guacamaya, t 

Verdes, Rosadas, N. 

Azules, Amarillas I 

y de varios colores. ' 
Papagayos. 
Loros. 
Pericos. 
Catarnicas. 
Periquitos. 
De cada especie hai al- 

gunas variedades. 
Pauji. 

Pauji de piedra. 
Paba de Monte. 
Paba Gurri. 
Paba Gallina. 
Guacharaca. 
Guacharaca de Montana 

Pini. 
Chumbipe, Pisco, Pabo. 
Chumbo-Guajolote 

Guanajo. 

{Torcazas. 
Tortolas. 
Tortolitas. 
Abuelitas. 
Collarejas. 
.Codorniz. 
Pellares. 
Zarzetilla. 
Grulla. 
Gallito. 
Garzon azul. 
Garza blanca 
Garza azul. 
Garza morena. 
Garza fina. 
Garza baco. 
Garzon. 
Garzon Gavan. 
Pato Cuchara. 
Tente Alcaravan. 
Coeli. 
Aruco. 
Gallineta. 
Flamenco. 
Becasinas. 
Pellarsitos. 

Various other species 
not well determined, 

S Chorlito Alcaravan. 



Fringilla. 

Cassicus. 

Ictenus Varius. 

I. Chrysocephalus 

I. FlaVescens. 

I- Dominicanis. 

Viduus. 

Fringilla Granatina. 

Oriolus Niger 

Merops Viridis. 

Merops Nubicus. 

Merops Cyanopygius. 

Ti-ochilus. There is a 
great variety of forms 
and lively colors. 

Picus robustus. 

Ramphactus. 

Chrotophaga Mayor. 
Chrotophaga rumindenta. 
Chrotophaga vagirostra. 
Chrotophaga Piririgua. 

\Jlra Glaucus. 
\Jlra Azuvert. 

Psitlacus Jlccipihinus. 
Ps Domicelbt. 
Ps Menstruus. 
Ps. Melunopterus. 
Ps. Passerinus. 



Ourax Jllector. 
Ourax Pauxi. 
Penelope Cristata. 
Penelope Jlbum. 
Pcnelupe Pipile. 
Ortalida Squamata. 
Orlalida Goudotii. 

Meleagris Lin. Cynckramus 
Main: Gallo Pavo Briss. 

Colomla Montana. 
Co'.omba Turtur. 
Cotomba Rism-ia. 
Colombo. Sinica. 
Colomba Cyanocephala.. 
Colins. 

Charadrius Nitidifrons. 
Vanellus Cayanensis. 
Grus .Americana. 
P sophia Crepitans. 
Cancroma Cancrophaga, 
Jlrdea Jllba. 
./Irdea Ceridea. 
Jlrdea Jlgumi. 
Jlrdea Cyanocephala. 
Ardca Stellaris. 
Mycteria Jlmericana. 
Tantalus Suculator. 
Plalalea Jljaja. 
; Jlrdea Sexetacia ? 
I Scopus? 
Palaaieda ComuUt. 
Fulica Martinica. 
Plwenicoptenus Ruber. 
Scolopax. 
Recurbirostra. 



Parra Tanaca. 



37 



Order 6th. 
PALMIPEDES. 



Family 1st. 
BRACHYPTERJE. 

Family 3d. 
TOTIPALMES. 

Family 2d. 
LONGIPENNES. 

Family 4th. 

LAMELLIROS- 
TRES. 



' Brachyptera. 
| Pato Cuervo. 

Cuervo. 

Pato Pescador. 

Alcatraz. 

Pajaro Bobo. 

Gaviota. 

Pato Real. 
Pato Comun. 
Pato Pintado. 
Yguasas. 
Zarzetas. 



\Podiceps Jlmrricanus. 
Carbo Oraoulus. 
Carlo Pigmeus. 
Plotus Melanogaster. 
Pelicanus Fuscus 
Sula Fusca. 

Proceuaria Puffinus. 



Jlnas. 



', Many sub-varie- 
1 ties. 



BONY FISH.— Section 1. 

The seas and rivers of New Granada abound in fish : the Pollack, 
Pardo, Lisa, Picua, Sabalo of the Atlantic, Lebranche, Ruffe, Patalo, Bon- 
ito, Porgo, Pardillo, Gold-fish, Arguja, Barbudo, Bocachico, Sardinata, 
Getudo, Guabina, Bagre, Sabalo of the South, Sabaleta, Doncella, Negro, 
Capitan, Flying-fish, Peje Sapo and Sardines, with the fish of the smallest 
size of all, the Titi or Chapisa, which measures only thirty millimetres, or 
little more than an inch. 

CARTILAGINOUS FISH.— Section 2. 

Among the fish which are enemies of man, we find some of, the most 
remarkable, such as the Shark, Sawfish, Manta. and Tintorera, and the 
Rays, both of salt and fresh water. 

Fishing is easy and productive ; and in the time when shoals appear in 
the large rivers, the multitude of fish is so great, which go up their 
streams, that they communicate a disagreeable smell to the water and 
the air, in confined places where there is not sufficient ventilation. 

REPTILES. 



Family of 
Cheloniani. 

Crocodile 
Family. 

Saurian 
Family. 



To this family belong the Shell-tortoise, the Sea- 
turtle, the Galapagos, the Morrocoi, the Hicotea, the 
Terrapin, and the fresh-water Turtle. 

Of the Crocodile family there are two very well de- 
termined classes : the Caiman and the Baba. Some 
pretend to distinguish a third class. 

To this family belong the Iguana, the Lizard and 
the Drasjon. 



Serpent 
Family. 



Family of 
Batrachians. 



r The Snakes and Serpents are found in temperate 
and warm regions. From, the altitude of 1800 metres 
above the level of the sea, no venomous serpent is ever 
seen. The principal serpents are the Boa, the Traga, 
Venado, Berrugosa, Rattlesnake, Equis or Tara, Yaru- 
ma, Bejuco, Podridora, Coral, Cazadora, Guascauna, 
and Boba. Most of these are poisonous : but the Indians 
and Negroes are perfectly acquainted with the anti- 
dotes, and it is seldom that any person dies in conse- 

l quence of their bite. 

r There are different kinds of toads and frogs. There 
is a remarkable yellow frog, timid and inoffensive, from 
which the Indians of Choco and Barbacoas obtain a 
most active poison, for their arrows and darts, from a 
humor which they perspire, when placed on hot em- 
bers. After subjecting the frogs to this species of tor- 
ture, they set them at liberty to return to the woods, 
that they may serve them on another occasion. 

In this department of the animal kingdom, little has 
been studied in the country ; and I have no doubt that 
new species and genera will be discovered. 



MOLLUSCA 

The variety of Mollusca in New Granada is very great, and as yet very 
little known. The most remarkable obtained by fishing are those inhab- 
iting the pearl-shell, which is abundant in both seas, but chiefly in the 
Gulf of Panama, the Archipelago of Montijo, and the coast of Buenaven- 
tura. The Calamar is the mollusca most esteemed for the table ; and in 
the different species of oysters, are several small ones, which possess as 
high a flavor as those of Ostend. 

INSECTS. 



As in all inter- tropical countries, insects abound in New Granada. We 
cannot attempt, in this Memoir, to do more than notice a few of the best 
known. Among the Moledores, in the Order Coleoptera, are the Cantha- 
rides, the Escarabajo, the Cocui of the woods, the Cocui of the sugar-cane, 
the Luciernaga or Firefly, and the San Juanito. In the Order Orthoplera, 
the Langosta or Locusla, which commits ravages in crops, the Grillo 



39 

and the Cucurachas. In the Order of Nevroptera, are several inoffensive 
species, as the Devil's Little Gentleman, Myrmelon Libelludoides, and 
Nemoptera Sinuata : but others, as the white ant, Termes Fatale and 
Termes Lucifugum, make great ravages in houses and stores. In the 
Order of Hymenoptera, are found different species of Bees : the Apis Melli- 
fica, Apis Peronii and Apis Unicoi or, which is the most common, and all 
make good honey : but the wax of none of them can be blanched, except 
that made by the eastern bee, which is the true honey-bee. We have 
also the Avispus Clarion lobalum, and the large bee Bombas Dahlboni. In 
the Order of the Sterpsitera there are few ; and the most worthy of at- 
tention is that called Tabano bobo, which I believe to be the Xenos Ves- 
parum. In the orders of Dermaptera and Trichoptera few have been 
classified. 

In the class of Chupadores, there is a great abundance, in all the 
climates. Of the Order Lepidoptera, we have various species of the types 
Papilio Evandres, P. Triopas, P. Belus, P. Paon, P. Torquatus, and the 
Butterflies of Muso, P. Sapphirus, and P. Spinelus, whose brilliant color 
has procured it this name. In the Order of Hemiptera are two kinds of 
bedbugs — Cimex lectularia — but they do not live in situations higher 
than 5817 feet (1770 metres) above the level of the sea. To the same 
Order belongs the Cochineal (Cocus cacti) which produces the dye of 
that name. In the Order of Diptera are found the various Musquitoes 
which molest travellers on the rivers and coasts. In the Order of Aptera 
are various Fleas and Chigoes, (Pulex,) to which some naturalists, as 
Wcstwood, have given a distinct genus, calling them Sarcophylla. Ac- 
cording to my observations there are three kinds of Chigoes, {Pulex Pene- 
trans). In the Order of Aphaniptera are found the Louse, (Pediculus ca- 
piti,) and P. Vestimenti, which are common in all elevated places ; and 
other species, belonging to the new genera of the Epizoicos and Zoopha- 
gos, as the Garrapato moth and Crab-louse (Ricinus Hexapoda). 

MYRIAPODA. 

In this class of Animals there are various kinds, vulgarly called " Mil- 
pies, or Cien-pies," (Thousand-feet or Hundred-feet). There are also 
the Glomeris Marginata, the Tulus Lucifugus, and the Polydermus Mexi- 
canus, of the order of the Chilogonata, and the Venomous Centipede, Sco- 
hpendra Morsilans,o{ the Chrilopoda. 



40 



CRUSTACEA. 

There are several animals of this class. The most remarkable are the 
Crab, of the Order of Decapodos ; Lupa Pelagica, of which are found 
three species ; Lobsters and Langostines, Homarus vulgaris, a family of 
the Astacii, to which also belong the Shrimps (Astacus Fluvialis). 

ARACHNIDES. 

Of the Spiders the variety is great; the Scorpion (Scorpius^ the most 
terrible of which, for their bite, are the Alacran Negro, or Black Scor- 
pion, (Scorpius Buthus); and the Grey, (S. Centrums). There is a 
Spider which produces silk of good quality, and seems to me a species of 
the Mygala Ccementaria; the Great Spider, {Mygala Antipodracia ;) and 
the Spiders Braba, (M. Avkularia). Another very small one is known, 
called Coya, which is believed to be very venomous, and of which many 
tales are told, in my opinion quite fabulous, as, according to my examina- 
tions, I believe it to be a species of the Sytodes Thorctcica. 

WORMS. 

This class of animals closely resembles those of other countries ; and its 
geographical distribution and paleontology are the same. 

Among the Annelida are found the Leech, {Hirudo,') which is smaller 
than the European, and, in case of medical application, from four to six 
must be applied to produce the effects of one of them. The Syll'is Macu- 
latus, the Spirorbis Nautiloides, the Eumolpe Picla, and various other 
classes, intestinal, terrestrial and aquatic. 

ZOOPHYTES. 

We have various classes of these animal-plants; The Eriso, (Echinus 
Globiformis,) which is edible and of agreeable flavor ; the Sea-star, a va- 
riety of the Comatula Mediterranea ; the Madre de Agua, {Pelagia Nocti- 
luca /) and various Corals, but not the Corallina Rubra. 



41 



•EXOTIC ANIMALS. 



I have said nothing of the Domestic or Naturalized Animals in the 
country, and I have, in this part, only attempted a description of what 
naturally belongs to it, in order to complete the physical geography. In 
the Third Part, in treating of political geography, with its statistical and 
commercial relations, I shall give such a sketch as the brief nature of this 
Memoir will permit, and my proposed plan and object require. 



THE HUMAN EACE. 

The race of men which inhabited New Granada before the 
fifteenth century, belongs to the American type. The nations 
on the Atlantic coasts, from Chiriqui on the coast of Vera- 
guastoGoajira, were, without doubt, of the Carib race, which 
is very similar to the Brasilo-guaramensian, to which belong 
the nations in the east of New Granada, as far as the eastern 
cordillera, and the Mocoas, Sebondoyes, Pastuzos, Almague- 
refios and Patias. Those which inhabited the province of 
Tuquerres belonged to the Ando-Peruvian race. The nations 
of Choco, the interior of Antioquia, Cauca, Popayan and 
Neiva possessed, and still preserve, characteristics more re- 
sembling those of the Aztecs than any other race. The Mu- 
iscas differed from the rest ; and their pusillanimous character 
most assimilated them to the Ando-Peruvians. Several na- 
tions are still found in the savage state, the principal of which 
are the Mesayas, Caquetas, Choquees, Mocoas, Omaguas, 
Enaguas, Amarizanos, Guipanabis, Macucues, Guahibos and 
Andaquies, in the eastern part of the republic ; the Goajiros, 
Motilones, Guainetas and Cocinas, in the provinces of Eio 
Hacha, ITpar and Santa-Marta ; and the Dariens, Cunas and 
Chocoes, on the banks and affluents of the Atrato and coast of 
Darien. The other nations are insignificant hordes, or have 



42 

been reduced to the" social state ; but some preserve their lan- 
guages, especially among the Noanamos in Choco, the Coco- 
nucos in Popayan, the Paeses and old Pijaos in Popayan and 
Neiva, and the Sebondoyes and Mocoas in the territory of' 
Mocoa. The Muiscas and Almaguerenos, like the Calamares 
of Carthagena and Santa Marta, who are reduced to Grana- 
dan society, and of whom I have not spoken, have lost their 
original languages. According to data which I have obtain- 
ed, the savage Indians in the territory of Mocoa and Canton, 
of San Martin, Province of Bogota, must be between 70,000 
and 75,000 in number, those of Goajira, 18,000, and 20,000 
in Upar, Ocana, Santa Marta and Opon ; in Socorro 2,000 and 
3,000 ; in the provinces of Choco, Antioquia and Mompoz, 
5,000 and 6,000 ; in Darien and the Isthmus, 4,000 and 5,000 ; 
and in Casanare, 8,000 and 10,000 : total, from 108,000 to 
120,000. But nothing certain can be said on this subject, be- 
cause, notwithstanding the authority which I exercised as 
President of the Bepublic, and the information which I asked 
for of the political officers and all the missionaries, all their 
replies were deficient in positive information, and from which 
I obtained the results. 

The Mesayas, in the territory of Mocoa, are cannibals ; a 
few other hordes have the practice of eating the flesh of their 
enemies. Intercourse with the civilized people on their fron- 
tiers has improved their customs and softened their habits of 
ferocious brutality. 

Generally speaking, it may be said, that they have no re- 
ligious knowledge, and merely recognize the existence of a 
Supreme Being, the Creator of all things, and the influences 
of good and evil, attributed to the sun and moon. Their 
ideas on the immortality of the soul are imperfect ; and they 
rather believe in transmigration, but that they will always 
be corporeal beings, capable of pain and pleasure, and re- 
quiring food : so that it may be said that they have no idea 



43 

of spirit. Other secondary ideas, which are found in other 
nations, have arisen from the religious conceptions of those 
who submitted to the regimen of the old missions established 
by the Colonial government. The nations which, like the 
Muiscas, had a regular government, had also their own wor- 
ship. The sovereign resided at Tunja, and was called Saque ; 
the Pontiff resided at Iraca, and divided the power with the 
Saque ; they had subordinate princes, as the Zipa of Cundin- 
amarca, who possessed wealth, and enjoyed great luxuries, 
having delicious baths, and led a pleasant and voluptuous 
life. Zue was the sun, and Chia the moon, which they wor- 
shipped ; they did not, therefore, acknowledge as Supreme 
Beings, but as representing the Supreme Being. Like most 
other nations in a certain degree of civilization, they had 
their traditions, and among them one of a deluge, or an in- 
undation of the world. The Pubenanos and Coconucos were 
governed at the time of the conquest, by a Cacique named 
Pay an ; and the Paeses or Pijaos by another called Calambas. 
In the language of the Coconucos are found the words Manche, 
which means spirit, Palash, heaven, Pansig, devil, and Cuai, 
demon. The Spirit was the Supreme Being. They had a 
supreme chief, whom they called Yasgilen, which is equiva- 
lent to a king. The Caciques were the rulers of sections of 
the nations; under these were Caschif,, which corresponds 
with governors ; and by the word Carabic they denominated 
their inferior authorities, resembling alcaldes. This shows 
that they had a certain social organization. When the Span- 
ish conquest commenced, these nations, united with those of 
Pasto, were defending themselves against the Incas, who 
had some time before undertaken to conquer them, with- 
out having yet succeeded. They cultivated maize (zea mais,) 
which they called Bur a; arracacha, which they called Hua- 
hue ; the Ullucus luberosus, to which they gave the name of 
Ulluco, as in the Quichua language ; the Oca, {Oxalis tuberosa;) 



44 

and the potato, (Solarium tuberosum,) calling it Papa. It 
grows wild in the mountains of Paletara, where I have seen 
it in great abundance, some with roots destitute of tubercles', 
and others which had a few. The latter, by cultivation, pro- 
duce potatoes of different varieties, and very good ; and their 
culture was known to the natives of the country. They had 
their own agriculture, which proves a certain degree of civili- 
zation, without taking into account the fruits of trees which 
also they cultivated. In Bogota the culture of the Ulluco 
was known, which in the Muisca language, was called 
Chibia and Hibia. Humboldt and Caldas saw it only at 
Quito. I have discovered these facts by a thousand inquiries, 
among the inhabitants of the forests of Coconucos, Polindaras, 
and Gruambias, and by the divining a little of their language, 
which has never been written. This nation counted only by 
sevens, for the numbers eight, nine and ten they now use in 
Spanish, while speaking their own language. They made 
their calculations with cords and knots, like the Incas ; and 
they still make use of them, calling their cords Quipos, and 
this shows that they were taught it by the Incas. They had 
instruments of stone for cultivating the ground, two of which 
I have in my possession. For laboring they were accustomed 
to chew coca leaves mixed with a little lime, which they ob- 
tained from an argillaceous carbonate of lime, and called Pic 
or Mambi. They still masticate those leaves with lime while 
laboring, and it is a practice common to the indigenous in 1 
habitants of Bolivia and Upper Peru. I have met with a 
word in the language of those Indians, much resembling an 
English one, and with the same signification : Inde, meaning 
indeed. 

I have occupied much time with this nation, because no- 
thing has been written of them ; and these facts ought to be 
collected, while there remain only a few inhabitants who 
have preserved their traditions. Being proprietor of a por- 



45 

tion of their lands, I have been able, with much labor, to en- 
gage in conferences with several men and women of moderate 
capacity, who have taught me a little of their language, and 
related the information which they possess of the conquest 
and of their ancestors ; and two of them, Filipe 01 and Mauricio 
Melenge, men past eighty years of age, told me, in 1819, that 
the lands which I own belonged to the Cacique Mompotes, 
and those of Cobalo to the Caciques Guanaritas. In the 
highest part of these are found remains of an ancient fortress, 
made of earth, and some in a quadrangular form ; and a zig-zag 
road, called in their language Quingos, a wood found also in 
Quichua tongue. From all this, I believe, that this nation, 
although independent of the government of Atahualpa, still 
participated in some degree in the civilization of Peru. 

These were the Indians who, to deliver themselves from 
the conquerors, destroyed all their crops, in order that both 
conquerors and conquered should die of starvation ; hoping 
that they, being many, might have some survivors, who would 
again people the land : a heroic action, which clearly shows 
their love of liberty, although Herrera, in referring to it in 
his decades, attributes it to the council of the devil, to gain 
the souls of those Gentiles ; an idea appropriate to the Span- 
ish fanaticism of that period, to which we must attribute the 
loss of information of importance, concerning the races who 
inhabited the continent of Columbia. 

The Coconucos at this day, although half-civilized and 
converted, still retain the ideas of a genius of good and one 
of evil, remnants of their ancient creed ; and they attribute 
evil to Puil, which is also the name of the moon, and to 
Panzig, who is his demon; while they expect good from 
Puitckr, likewise the name of the sun. They distinguish the 
fixed stars from the planets in their language, calling the 
former Sil, and the latter &ilg or Sail; and they know the 
constellation of the Pleiades by the name of Site-Silg. Of 



46 

the other constellations I have not been able to find any 
names. They call a month Canapuil, which means one moon. 

The barbarous nations which have been mentioned, are 
generally polygamists, and some of them, as the Guajiros, 
are bigamists, having one wife for the country or for war, 
and another for the house, who holds an inferior rank to the 
former. In the eastern plains of Mocoa, it is not uncommon 
to find connections in the direct line. Those nations, like 
the Cunas, Dariens, Chocos, Guagiros and Cocinas, who have 
more relations with civilized men, are beginning to become a 
little civilized, and to establish officers and fix laws. Among 
the other hordes there are generally independent groups or 
families, and the most powerful and independent governs the 
rest, directs their wars, hunting, and even fishing. 

I have calculated the area of Mocoa at 167,454 square 
miles, that of San Martin at 88,262, Goajira at 3,527, and 
Darien at 7,110 ; and all this territory is inhabited by 120,000 
at the maximum, and for 6,084 are civilized, but the greater 
part of them poor and ignorant. This superficies of 216,854 
square miles, which is larger than Spain, and somewhat 
smaller than France, capable of containing fifteen millions of 
inhabitants, in proportion to the population of Spain, scarcely 
contains five and a fifth persons to a square league, or twenty-^ 
six to five square leagues. 

This notice might well have been left for the following part 
of the Memoir : but I wished to complete this chapter on the 
Indigenous Human Kace while speaking of it, in order to 
present under one point of view all that relates to it exter- 
nally, in the country of which I was giving a physical de- 
scription. 



47 



art C|irk 



POLITICAL GEOGEAPHY. 

HISTORICAL REVIEW, GOVERNMENT, TERRITORIAL DIVISION, 
RELIGION, GENERAL CENSUS, CLASSIFICATION OF PROVIN- 
CES, DESCRIPTION BY SECTIONS, AND CONCLUSION. 

Christopher Columbus discovered terra firma in 1498, 
and, during his fourth voyage, on the second of November, 
1502, found Chagres and the Bay of Limones, called also 
Navy Bay ; for which reason it has been decreed that the 
city of Colon should be built at that port, where the point 
of departure of the Panama railroad has been established, 
which is to be completed within a year. As that work had 
not been begun when I became President of New Gran- 
ada, I applied for an exclusive privilege for an American 
association, who have undertaken it and carried it onward 
with great perseverance. 

Different governments having been established throughout 
the Granadan territory, while Spanish colonies, a vice-royalty 
was at length formed in 1732, of what are now the Eepublics 
of New Granada and Ecuador. I have already mentioned 
the condition of the aborigines ; and up to the present time 
no monuments have been discovered, indicating civilization 
anterior to that of the indigenes who peopled the country in 
the fifteenth century, except those in the central cordillera, 
near San Agustin, about the second degree of north latitude, 
and another in the same on the Plata, in 2° 25', which prove 



48 

to be the work of a genius superior to that of the Pijaos, 
Andaquies and Paezes, who inhabited those regions at the 
epoch mentioned. 

In 1810, New Granada separated herself from the Spanish 
monarchy, and maintained a constant war until 1824, when 
the Spanish army was conquered by the Republican, of which 
two-thirds consisted of Colombians. Bolivar, the most dis- 
tinguished leader of the Spanish- American revolution, was 
the first proposer of the union of Yenezuela and New Gran- 
ada, in 1818 ; and when the. Congress of Angostura met, 
early in 1819, the fundamental law was enacted which estab- 
lished Colombia, on the 17th of December of that year. 
Venezuela separated herself in November, 1829, and the 
Ecuador in May, 1830 ; and the central part of Colombia in- 
stituted itself the Republic of New Granada on the 21st of 
November, 1831. 

In 1832, the Constitution of the State was sanctioned, un- 
der the form of a Democratic Republican Government, by 
dividing the supreme power into the Executive, Legislative 
and Judicial, under a central regimen, but giving to the pro- 
vinces a municipal corporation, that each section might legis- 
late in its local affairs. 

The Republic was divided into provinces, these into can- 
tons, and the cantons into paroquial districts. 

The state recognized no national religion ; but has declared 
that it will pay for the Catholic worship, and protect Grana- 
dans in its exercise. The law of Colombia which attributed 
to itself the law of patronage exercised by Spain, has con- 
tinued in vigor to the present time. 

The Republic was first divided into eighteen provinces ; 
and they have since been increased to thirty-five : viz., An- 
tioquia, Azuero, Barbacoas, Bogota, Buenaventura, Cartha- 
gena, Casanare, Cauca, Cordova, Cundinamarca, Chiriqui, 
Choco, Mariquita, Medellin, Mompoz, Neiva, Ocaria, Pam- 



49 

plona, Panama, Pasto, Popayan, KioHacha, Sabanilla, Santa- 
marta, Santander, Socorro, Soto, Tequenthama, Tundama, 
Tunja, Tiiquerres, Yalle-Dupar, Yelez, Yeraguas and Zipa- 
quira ; and the territories of Goajira and Mocoa. 
• The Constitution of 1832 was reformed in 1843, without 
any variation in the form of government. 

Every man born in the Eepublic, who can read and write, 
is a citizen, without distinction of race or class ; and also 
those naturalized and twenty years of age. Naturalization is 
very easy. A foreigner may apply for it ; and in case he is 
neither a criminal or a vagabond, it is granted immediately. 

In 1821 was passed the law of manumission of slaves ; 
and no person has since been born in that condition. By a 
law of 1851, slavery was entirely abolished, by giving liberty 
to all who remained slaves on the 1st of January, 1852. 

By the immigration law, tolerance of religion has been 
granted, and this provision has also been inserted in the 
treaty of peace and amity with the United States. Among 
the Spanish- American Bepublics only New Granada, Ve- 
nezuela and the province of Buenos Ayres, in the Argentine 
Eepublic, have proclaimed liberty of worship. In the others 
there is only toleration : no public worship except the Cath- 
olic being permitted, which is the state religion of those 
countries. 

Table C shows the population of New Granaaa. By the 
census of 1851 it appears, that the number of inhabitants 
was 2,243,054, not including the savage Indians spoken of 
in the second part. It also shows that the population in 1843 
was 1,932,279. According to the census of 1835 it was 
1,685,038. Within the last sixteen years it has increased 
557,016, not by immigration, because the small number of 
persons who have come in, hardly equals that of the emi- 
grants. In 1810, when the revolution commenced, there were 
scarcely 800,000 inhabitants ; in 1826 there were 1,300,000 
4 



50 

The first twenty-four years of that period were those of 
the war of independence, in which there was a very great 
loss of life. It appears that in 1885 the population has 
doubled. From that epoch to the present, sixteen years, it 
has increased 33 per cent or 16| per cent every eight years. 
It will double every 36 years. 

In the first part of this Memoir I said, that the Eepublic 
contains 394,664 square miles of sixty to a degree of latitude ; 
and, in the second part, in speaking of the deserts occupied 
by savage tribes, I deducted from this area 216,354, leaving 
that of the inhabited provinces 178,310 square miles, compre- 
hending the province of Casanare, which has very few inhab- 
itants, as well as the Cordilleras which, divide the country in 
its greatest extent. From this calculation we deduce, that 
the civilized inhabitants are in the proportion of 12| to a 
square mile, or 113 to a square league. 

The political division of the Republic having been made by 
law, and the enumeration made in alphabetical order, it will 
be convenient, in order to give a general description of the 
country, before speaking of its divisions in particular, to di- 
vide the provinces into three classes, according to the increase 
of their population in eight years. Those which increase 
more than twenty per cent, we will place in the first class ; 
those which, increase more than ten and less than twenty, in 
the second ; and those which, do not reach, ten, in the third. 
From this classification results the following order : 1st class, 
Choco, Popayan, Soto, Medellin, Cordova, Tuquerres, Pasto, 
Santander, Barbacoas, and Antioquia; 2d class, Valle-Upar, 
Cauca, Socorro, Buenaventura, Tunja, Neiva, Tandama, Mari- 
quita, Velez, Mompoz, Pamplona and Zipaquira, Bogota and 
Tequenthama ; 3d class, Yeraguas, Panama, Chiriqui, Casan- 
are, Rio Hacha, Carthagena, Sabanilla, Santamarta, Azuero, 
and Ocana. 

I will make another classification, according to the salubri- 



51 

ty of the country, in four classes : 1st, excellent climate ; 2d, 
good ; 3d, middling ; and 4th, bad. In the first class I place 
the provinces of Pasto, Cordova, Popayan, (except the valley 
of Patia, and that part of the valley of the Cauca which resem- 
bles it,) Medellin, Tiiquerres and the upper part of the province 
of Ocana. In the second we must include Soto, Santander, 
Antioquia, Tunja, Tundama, Cundinamarca, Pamplona, Zipa- 
quira and Bogota. In the third, Choco, Barbacoas, Cauca, 
Socorro, Tequenthama, Buenaventura, Neiva, Mariquita, Ye- 
lez, Pamplona and the Cantons of Calota and Quilichao in 
Popaj^an. In the fourth, Mompoz, Yeraguas, Chiriqui, Car- 
thagena, Panama, Azuero, Kio Hacha, Casanare, Santamarta, 
the Valle-Upar, the Canton of Rapozo in Buenaventura, the 
northeastern part of Medellin, the valley of Patia in Popa- 
yan, the lower part of the provinces of Ocaila and Antioquia, 
the Canton of San Martin in Bogota, and the territories of 
Goajira and Mocoa. None of these districts, however, are 
very unhealthy ; and the worst known are the Bocas del 
Toro in Chiriqui and Chagres in Panama. 

In describing the Provinces, I shall adopt a new plan, 
combining their geographical positions with customs, wants, 
and relations, as I think them called to a social organization, 
in sections which shall become independent states, and shall 
form one federated nation, after the example of the United 
States : that opinion is very general in New Granada. 
Those sections will be : 1st, the Isthmus, composed of the 
provinces of Azuero, Chiriqui, Panama and Yeraguas; 2d, 
the South or Cauca, formed of Barbacoas, Buenaventura, 
Cauca, Pasto, Popayan and Tiiquerres; 3d, Antioquia, com- 
posed of Antioquia, Choco, Cordova and Medellin ; 4th, 
Cundinamarca, consisting of Bogota, Cundinamarca, Mari- 
quita, Neiva, Tequenthama and Zipaquira ; 5th, Boyaca, 
formed of Casanare, Tundama, Tunja and Yelez ; 6th, 
Guanenta, composed of Ocana, Pamplona, Santander, So- 



52 

corro and Soto ; and 7th, Magdalena, composed of Cartha- 
gena, Mompoz, Eio Hacha, Santamarta, Sabanilla and Yalle- 
Upar. Mocoa, La Guajira and San Martin should be gov- 
erned as territories by the federal government. Having 
named these seven great divisions, let us attend to a descrip- 
tion of them by provinces, for as there are many things com- 
mon to them all, we may thus avoid repetition. 

SECTION I.— THE ISTHMUS. 

The provinces of the Isthmus are situated, as shown by 
Table 0, between 7° and 9° 45' north latitude, and 77° and 
83° 5' west longitude, with a population of 138,107, classified 
by races and castes as will be seen in that table. 

Cities. The principal ci + y of the Isthmus is Panama, 
which is the capital of the province of the same name. It 
was built for a strong place by the Spanish government, but 
the walls are 'in a bad condition. The buildings of the in- 
terior part are of stone and timber. It was almost ruined 
when the transit commenced from the United States to Cali- 
fornia ; and, with the railroad now constructing, it will be- 
come an important place in the commercial world. It con- 
tains no edifice remarkable for its architecture. The city of 
Portobelo, the chief place of the canton of that name, is al- 
most ruinous. It was the fortress on the Atlantic side in the 
time of the Spaniards. Los Santos, the capital of the pro- 
vince of Azuero, on the Pacific, and Nata, the principal 
town of the canton of its name, are of no importance for 
their buildings or establishments. The city of Santiago is 
the capital of the province of Veraguas ; the city of David. 
that of the province of Chiriqui, and Penonome the chief 
town of the canton of Soto, in the province of Panama. 
Neither of these contain buildings distinguished for their 
construction. The town which is growing up in the bay of 



53 

Limon, at which, commences the railroad that is to cross the 
Isthmus to Panama, will be raised to the rank of a city, 
with the name of Aspinwall. 

In the general description of the country I have enumerated 
the ports belonging to New Granada in this part of her terri- 
tory. Aspinwall and Panama will be the most important, 
on account of the railroad. 

The character of the inhabitants of the Isthmus is good ; 
and, without having a police, there is sufficient security in all 
the towns in the interior. The attacks, which have been made 
on goods on the road from Panama to Chagres, have been 
the work of foreigners and vagabonds, drawn to that country 
by the report of the gold of California ; and the necessary 
security is now assured, by the care of a house under contract 
with insurers in New York. The national authorities occa- 
sionally give their aid. 

The commerce of the Istnmus is still inconsiderable. The 
only articles of value for exportation are pearl-shells and 
pearls, which are fished in the gulf of Panama and the 
archipelago of Montijo. Their value may be $90,000 or 
$100,000 annually. 

Products of Agriculture. — Agriculture is very backward 
on the Isthmus ; its products are not sufficient for the con- 
sumption of the country, whence arises the scarcity on the 
passage from Chagres or Aspinwall to Panama. In Tables Gl- 
and H of this Memoir, the reader will find a notice of the 
plants cultivated in the Isthmus, and those which grow spon- 
taneously, and are made of any use. However, I must say, 
that the notice is incomplete ; for much remains to be done in 
treating of the vigorous vegetation of those provinces. With 
regard to the timbers for building, cabinet work and other 
purposes, some notice will be taken of them in the same 
tables to give a general idea of their productions. 

The provinces of the Isthmus have their place also as au- 



54 

riferous regions. In that of Veraguas, are found mines of 
gold and washings of very good quality. The products have 
been small : but it is certain that there are very rich veins. 
In the province of Panama there are also very rich auriferous 
districts, although not equal to those of Veraguas. 

Specimens of cinnabar have been found, and mines of 
fossil coal, which, with the prosperity of the country, will be 
wrought and prove of great value. 

Cattle are abundant in Chiriqui, and there are good pas- 
tures in the other provinces; but there being no pasture 
ground to fatten the cattle which are consumed, the flesh is of 
inferior quality in Panama, and in those places to which they 
must be driven, at great distances. 

The rearing of horses is extremely neglected ; and those 
which are used in the country are of so bad a quality, that it 
may be said to be the portion of the Eepublic where the man- 
ner of rearing and improving the breed is unknown. For this 
reason it has been necessary to import from other places the 
mules used in the transit between Panama and Cruzes ; and 
they perish by hundreds, in consequence of the bad and 
scanty pastures, and the difficult and toilsome road which 
they have to travel. On the completion of the railroad this 
business will be ended : for there can be no competition for 
freight, and no establishments have been formed for raising- 
robust animals, able to endure labor for years. 



SECTION II.— CAUCA. 

The provinces in the south of the Eepublic which form 
this section of this memoir, have, without doubt, the greatest 
advantages for future progress, if a beneficent administration 
breaks through the obstacles which chain down industry and 



55 

improvement. It is not now the most populous section in 
the view I have adopted and exhibited in Table E in the Ap- 
pendix. It numbers only 276,249 inhabitants ; and it is the 
only province which contains no savage Indians, as those who 
formerly belonged to it now inhabit the territory of Mocoa- 
Its geographical position is between 0° 45' and 5° 22' 1ST. lat. 
and 75°30' and 78° 45' W. long. It contains lofty and moun- 
tainous lands, like those of Tuquerres, Pasto, Almaguer and 
Popayan ; the vallies of Patia and Cauca, which are as rich 
as any to be found in the world ; and a coast on the Pacific 
washed by large rivers, which have been described in the first 
part of this Memoir. 

This portion of the country, while it is excellent for inter- 
tropical agriculture, produces cereal plants well in the moun- 
tains, and abounds in mines of gold, silver, copper, iron and 
coal. On its beautiful plains cattle and horses are easily 
raised, and sheep on the mountains. No section of the Ke- 
public possesses a more favorable combination of advantages. 
The inhabitants are among the most robust and healthy, 
and the endemic diseases of cotos and elephantiasis, which 
exist in other provinces, are here hardly known. 

The principal towns in this section are the cities of Buga, 
Call, Cartago, Pasto and Popayan. The last-mentioned con- 
tains fine edifices ; among the private houses are some of the 
best constructed in all the Eepublic. It has several churches, 
of which the following deserve particular attention: the 
cathedral, built by the Jesuits, in a simple style, well exe- 
cuted and of the Ionic order ; and the church of San Fran- 
cisco, of the Corinthian order, erected at the expense of the 
missionaries of the Propaganda fide, and in a good state of 
preservation. There are other churches of inferior importance, 
which belonged to the regular orders of Dominicans, Ermi- 
tanqs and Agonizantes ; and two belonging to the monasteries 
of the Incarnation and El Carmen, the nuns of Santa Teresa 



56 

and Augustinians. There are three chapels, one of them be- 
longing to the Charity Hospital. Among the public edifices 
should be mentioned a magnificent bridge, constructed by 
the city across the river Cauca, of good architecture and per- 
haps the best in all the Republic, as it has but one arch for 
the passage of the water, nineteen metres in diameter, and 
three others, which serve only to preserve the level. In 
Pasto the same taste is not to be found in private houses ; and 
in the churches, which are eight in number, is none well built 
on architectural rules. Two bridges over the river Pasto are 
of ordinary construction. Cartago, Buga and Cali are built 
in a similar manner ; but the last mentioned has an advantage 
over the others, both in the construction and in the taste dis- 
played in its houses, although there is none built in conform- 
ity with the rules of architecture. The church of San Fran- 
cisco is remarkable among the public edifices, being scientifi- 
cally built in the Ionic order. The parish church is as well 
constructed. There are several other smaller churches and a 
good bridge over the river Cali. In Buga and Cartago are 
no public buildings worthy of notice, the churches being in- 
ferior. The cities of Barbacoas, Yscuande, Caloto, Toro, Al- 
maguer and Anserma, like the smaller ones, Ypiales, Palmira, 
Quilichao and Roldanillo, are of little importance, and some 
deserve only to be considered as towns, for their small popu- 
lation and their want of public buildings. 

In Table G will be found the principal productions of agri- 
cultural industry in this section : but it should be stated that 
there is not in the whole Eepublic a more fertile soil than 
that of the -valley of the Cauca, where the sugar-cane grows 
in the same spot, eighty years, without the necessity of cul- 
ture; and maize yields from 100 to 300 per cent. The 
plantain is so abundant, that an area of 10,000 square metres 
gives a product of 62,800 kilogrammes, which would sustain 
fifty-seven men for a year. The Coffee of Popayan is as rich 



57 

as that of Mocha ; and the Cinchona barks of Pitayo are 
among the best known in commerce. The Cocoa of the 
Cauca and Patia is superior to that of Guayaquil, Brazil and 
Maracaibo, and even equal to that of Caracas ; only those of 
Socomizco and the Magdalena are better. When a wheel 
road shall be opened from the interior to the port of Buena- 
ventura, only twenty -two leagues distant from the bosom of 
the valley of the Cauca, both Chili and California may profit- 
ably supply themselves with the inter- tropical fruits of that 
country which I have mentioned. In those regions, and on 
the very coast of the Pacific, India-rubber of the first quality 
is produced ; and also sarsaparilla, various resins, and vanilla 
of the best kind. 

Beneath the deep vegetation are mines of gold, which, 
during three hundred years, have yielded liberal returns, not- 
withstanding the small number of men employed in them. 
There are placers where gold is found in sand, the product of 
which is some times from ten to fourteen pounds from four 
yards square of land ; while the mines are yet untouched, 
and many which have not been wrought. In the central 
cordillera are good veins of silver ; and so abundant are the 
iron and coal mines, especially in the western cordillera, that 
they would be sufficient to supply the country and form a 
valuable trade. 

The fish in the rivers and on the coast are very abundant ; 
and between the island of Gorgona and the port of Buena- 
ventura pearl-oysters abound; and the pearls are not inferior 
to those of the gulf of Panama. The central cordillera con- 
tains snowy mountains : viz. those of Huila and the Coconu- 
cos, from which ice might be obtained to supply the country, 
if roads were formed, as is now done at Popayan and some 
other places ; and in all parts of it are produced the grains 
and garden-vegetables of the northern and southern zones, of 
the best qualities. 



58 

The meats are rich and well-flavored ; and the domestic 
fowls, fed on good grain and vegetables, may be compared 
with the best of Europe or the United States. 

Manufactures do not exist ; and only in Pasto and Tuquer- 
res a few ordinary cloths are made, but dyed with beautiful 
vegetable colors of the country, and with cochineal brought 
from Bogota or Quito. 



SECTION III.— ANTIOQUIA. 

This section of the Eepublic is composed of what was for- 
merly the provinces of Antioquia and Choco. Its geographi- 
cal situation is between 4° 80' and 8° 50' N. lat., and 74° and 
77° 50' W. long. It contains no beautiful vallies like the 
section of Cauca ; but- yet is a continuation of the same 
country. The first who ever gave a geographical and statisti- 
cal notice of Antioquia, was the distinguished Granadan, Jose 
Manuel Restrepo ; and it has made little advance since his 
time. 

The vegetation is the same as that of the preceding section; 
and it would be useless to repeat what has been said ; and as 
in Cauca, under a stratum of vegetable earth, which in many 
places is three metres in thickness, are found rich mines of 
gold, which have been the most worked, and yield two-thirds 
of all the gold found in the Eepublic, both from sand and 
from veins, which have been wrought from time immemorial 
by the indigenes. 

This mountainous country, the physical description of 
which has been given in the first part of this memoir, con- 
tains no elevation higher than 2,740 metres, or 8,990 feet. 

The mines of this section are very various ; the rivers, 
principally the Porce, Cauca, Nechi, Bebara,Atrato, San Juan, 



59 

Quito, Murri,Eio Sucio and Andagueda, like the streams 
which, pour into them, are full of gold and platina sands ; 
and on the mountains which rise in the territory, are the veins 
which have been mentioned. Some mines of silver have 
also been discovered, which have not been worked ; and this 
metal is often in masses, combined with gold, which is the 
reason why gold is often impure : but there are others so pure 
that they reach to 22 and 23 carats. In the province of Cor- 
dova are mines of copper mixed with gold, which have not 
been wrought. 

Of the precious stones, of which certain historians have 
spoken, it can barely be said that there are a few, of middling 
quality : rock-crystal and a few jaspers ; but there are other 
mineral productions, among which should be mentioned the 
springs yielding salt charged with iodine, which is believed 
in that country, as well as in the Cauca, to cure the disease of 
the coto, which prevails so much in the centre of the Eepublic. 

The principal cities are Medellin, Antioquia and Bio- 
negro, and those of inferior size, Marinilla and Santa Eosa. 
The three first are capitals of the provinces of Antioquia, 
Medellin and Cordova. The construction of the public edi- 
fices is pretty good, and much as in Popayan, Buenaventura 
and Cauca. The churches are hardly of ordinary merit ; and 
in Antioquia and Eionegro they are better ; but none con- 
structed according to the rules of art. The towns of Quibdo 
and ISTovita, in Choco, are built of wood and palm-leaves, and 
appear more like the habitations of the aborigines, than con- 
structions of the European race. 

As will be seen in Table E, the population of this section 
amounts to 287,037, and here the increase has the highest 
rate. A short time before the revolution of 1810, Antioquia 
had 108,000 inhabitants, and Choco 16,000; that is to say, 
124,000 ; and now this amount has more than doubled in 41 



60 

years, at the rate of 118| per cent., -which is equivalent to 
2f>- per cent, annually, and it will double every 35 years. 

The inhabitants are healthy, robust, and in general of a 
generous, laborious and economical character. Their habits 
are severe, and the women are excellent companions and good 
mothers of families. 

All the western and southern part of New Granada is 
destined to become the most prosperous region of Colombia, 
and nothing is wanting but roads to break through the 
Cordilleras, which impede the easy immigration from the old 
continent. 

At the conclusion of this little Memoir, I will express my 
opinion concerning what may be expected of that country, 
by giving a general glance over the Eepublic, to complete 
the picture I have drawn, although imperfectly, and shall 
accompany it with a map, from which the preceding relation 
may be better understood. 



SECTION IV.— CUNDINAMARCA. 

This section, which is the most populous, is situated in the 
centre of the Eepublic, and, including the canton of San 
Martin, extends to the boundary of Brazil. It begins m K 
lat. 1° 30', at the extremity of the province of Neiva, and 
reaches to 5° 30', the limits of Zipaquira. On the east it 
commences in long. 68° 15', and terminates in 75° 50', on the 
central cordillera of Mariquita. The population is 554,955, 
as may be seen in Tables C and E, exclusive of the wild In- 
dians of San Martin. 

The capital of the province of Bogota is also that of the 
Republic, and its population is from 42,000 to 45,000. It is 
built at the bases of two mountains, Guadalupe and Monser- 
rate, and extends to the plain of the Funza. The principal 



61 

square is at the h eight of 2,644 metres, 18 centimetres, the 
temperature is uniform at 14° 76 centigrade (58° 56 Fahren- 
heit), medium rate. The public buildings have been much 
improved since the establishment of the independence ; and 
some of the private houses are in good taste, with elegant 
furniture, brought from Europe, or made there of the beauti- 
ful woods of the country. The government house is a tem- 
porary one, and the capitol is building, which will serve for 
the official dispatch of the national powers and as the habita- 
tion of the President. I had the gratification of laying the 
corner-stone. There are several beautiful and well built 
churches ; the cathedral is of the Corinthian order, and quite 
elegant, notwithstanding some architectural defects. The 
parish church of San Yictorino, of the Doric order, built by 
the Capuchin monks, although small, is the most perfect ; and 
that of Santo Domingo, in the same order, and the parish 
church of San Carlos, built by the Jesuits, are good and 
handsome edifices. There are other inferior churches in the 
convents of San Francisco, San Diego, La Candelaria and 
San Juan de Dios, and the monasteries of nuns of La Ensen- 
ada, La Concepcion, Santa Ines, Santa Clara and El Carmen ; • 
the parish churches of Las Nieves and Santa Barbara; the 
chapels of Belen, La Pena, Egipto and El Humilladero, which 
was the first built in the time of the conquest. Besides these 
are churches of Tercera Orden : Las Aguas, the Foundlings, 
College of Eosario, and those connected with the convents of 
Eegulars. 

Of the public or national edifices, none deserve mention 
for their construction, unless the National College of San 
Bartolome and the Astronomical Observatory, which owed 
its existence to the generosity and patriotism of Don Jose 
Celestino Mutis. It was begun on the 24th of August, 1802, 
and completed on the 20th of August, 1803. The architect 
to whom the work was entrusted, was Frai Domingo Petrez, 



62 

of the order of Capuchins. The form is that of an octagonal 
tower, 4 metres and 223 millimetres on each side, 13. metres 
and 191 millimetres high. The diameter, exclusive of the 
thickness of the walls, is 8 metres and 771 millimetres. It 
has three stories; the first with well-proportioned Tuscan 
pilasters, and the vaulted ceiling of this story makes the floor 
of the principal hall. The second story is Doric ; and the 
upper ceiling hemispherical, open in the centre, and supports 
the upper room, which is for observations. The attic crowns 
the whole edifice, and serves at the same time as a parapet. 
The aperture in the second vault admits a ray of light, which 
marks the sun on the pavement of the floor, where a meridian 
line is drawn and a gnomon is erected. 

Calclas fixed the latitude of this observatory, after repeated 
observations, at 4° 36' 6" 1ST. lat., and respecting its longitude 
he says: " Though in the years 1806 and 1807 I made many 
observations of emersions and immersions of the first and 
second satellites of Jupiter, I received no corresponding no- 
tices from the observatories of Europe." But his first essays 
with the use of the calculus place the meridian of Bogota at 
4 hours, 32' 14" west of the Eoyal Observatory of the Isle of 
Leon. Caldas gives this edifice an elevation of 1,352.7 toises, 
or 2,636.412 metres above the level of the sea. 

This observatory, which is the highest in the world, is the 
first ever erected in the intertropical zone, and is still the 
only one in the continent of Columbia, which is even tole- 
rably well provided with instruments. How useful it may 
prove to astronomy ! The names of Mutis and Caldas — the 
former on account of his generosity in establishing it, and the 
second for giving a commencement to astronomical observa- 
tions — well deserve to be written in letters of gold in the 
scientific annals of the Bepublic, and to be placed, by the 
sages of the world, by the side of William IV., the Land- 
grave of Hesse Cassel, Frederick II. of Denmark, founders 



63 

of the first observatories of Europe, and of Tycho-Brahe, La- 
lande, Arago and Herscliel. The political vicissitudes of 
the revolution caused the abandonment of that establishment ; 
and, during my administration, I wished to distinguish it, by 
fomenting scientific studies, not only in astronomy and math- 
ematics, but also in physics and natural history, by founding 
an institution, which in future might become of great benefit 
to the country and the civilized world. Those studies are 
now suspended : but I encourage the hope that they will soon 
be appreciated, and that advantages will be enjoyed which 
shall show good results from the erection of that temple con- 
secrated to Urania, on an eminence so exalted, and in a cen- 
tral part of the intertropical zone, where astronomers can 
discover new planets and constellations, favored by an atmos- 
phere far removed from the clouds of the north, and from 
which may be observed the stars which by setting in that 
part of space, escape the view of the learned observers of 
Europe and America. 

We perhaps have occupied too much time in speaking of 
this establishment ; but I think I may be excused by the in- 
telligent cosmographers to whom I present this memoir, and 
we will not pursue the description. 

Among the edifices which adorn the capital, should be 
mentioned the two beautiful bridges constructed across the 
Funza, on the northern and western roads, called Puente 
Grande and Puente del Comun. In the great square is placed 
a statue of Bolivar, cast in Munich, the work of Tanerani, and 
presented to the Republic by the citizen Jose Ignacio Paris, a 
monument precious for its excellence and the glorious recollec- 
tions of our independence, connected with the name of Bolivar. 
On the 20th of July, 1846, the anniversary of the Kepublican 
era, the statue was placed, during my presidency and under 
my direction. 

The other cities of this section are Zipaquira, Choconta, 



64 

Ubate, Tocaima, La Mesa, Guaduas, Honda, Mariquita, 
Ybague, Neiva, Purificacion, Timana, La Plata, GarZon, 
Guatavita, Ambalema, Guagua, Guamo and Chaparral, Ca- 
queza and others of less importance, but none of which, if 
we except Zipaquira, contain good public buildings. Some 
of these hardly possess any historical celebrity by the an 
tiquity of tJieir foundation, while others are only the basis of 
something future, to grow with the country. 

In Zipaquira, the capital of the province of that name, are 
the principal mines of rock-salt, which yield to the nation 
near a thousand dollars a day, being worked according to 
the best rules of art. The mineral extends many miles, 
crossing the savannas and the branch of the western Cordil- 
lera, whose crests divide the country, as has been mentioned. 

The products of agriculture in this section are very numer- 
ous ; but while there is in some parts as much fertility as in 
the sections of Cauca and Antioquia, it is' not everywhere 
equal, nor is there so favorable a situation for foreign com- 
merce, by the vicinity of the ocean. The productions will 
be seen in Tables G and H, on -vegetation, except those be- 
longing to the coast, but there are few> which may not be 
naturalized in valleys formed by the Magdalena and in the 
plains of San Martin, which extend to the Orinoco. 

There are many places in which are raised cattle, horses, 
mules, sheep, (both common and Merinoes,) swine and domes- 
tic fowls, not only enough for internal consumption, but also 
for export, if we succeed in forming carriage-roads, which 
were commenced some years ago. 

In this section are the silver mines of Santa Ana, the only 
ones which are now wrought, although they are none of the 
richest. There are some gold-washings in Neiva and Mari- 
quita, and new mines in the eastern cordillera, which are not 
worked. There are found rich mines of copper, coal, lead 
and iron ; and of these last, one is wrought, which yields 



65 

metal for the consumption of the country, to the benefit of 
the proprietors. Petroleum and feldspar abound, as do 
building stones. 

The mountains of Fusagazuga abound in timbers, and 
especially in cinchonas of good quality. 

In this section are the snowy regions of Tolima and Euiz, 
both which mountains are volcanoes. That of Tolima is the 
highest, (see table B,) and that of Euiz abounds in mineral 
springs, charged with sulphuric and chloridic acids, like those 
of Purace in the same cordillera, which were analyzed by 
Caldas, Rivero, Boussangault, Lewy and other distinguished 
chemists. In this section are the celebrated bridge of Iconozo, 
and the cascade of Tequenthama, whose perpendicular height 
is 152 metres, (579 feet) and whose volume of water is very 
considerable. 



SECTION" V.— BOYACA. 

This section is composed of the provinces of Casanare, 
Tundama, Tunja and Velez ; and its geographical situation is 
between 3° and 6° 55' K lat., and 68° 20' and 74° 60' W. 
long. Although the entire population of the four provinces 
amounts to 414,210 persons: excluding the territory of Casa- 
nare, with its 18,573 inhabitants, a very small area remains 
in proportion to the other sections, and the most thickly pop- 
ulated of them all, in proportion to the extent. In general 
the climate is good ; and, if the coto were not a common dis- 
ease, it would deserve to be ranked among the best. 

The agricultural productions and cattle of Tundama and 

Tunja are like those of the upper provinces of the section of 

Cundinamarca, as that is a continuation of the same high 

table-lands of the Andes. The province of Velez, which lies 

5 



66 

on the west, and that of Casanare, on the east, present a phy- 
sical physiogomy entirely diverse from the other provinces 
of the section and from each other. Casanare is chiefly a large 
plain, extending from the cordillera to the Orinoco, watered 
by magnificent and navigable rivers, which, being tributaries 
of that great river, will one day be navigated by steam ves- 
sels, which will penetrate from the shores of the Atlantic to 
within twenty leagues of the cordillera ; and those interior 
countries will have an easy channel for the exportation of 
their products by the Meta and the Orinoco. 

Yelez, a mountainous region, crossed by several rivers, has 
favorable prospects, as it possesses much wealth in copper 
ores, and the mines of Moniquira, which are worked, and 
are the most productive of that metal in the Eepublic. There 
are also the emerald mines, in the ancient town of Muzo, the 
only mines of real emeralds now known in the commercial 
world ; for, although these precious stones have been known 
from time immemorial, other mines which yielded them have 
been lost. 

Many writers on geography, and others on mineralogy, 
speak of the emeralds of Peru, but through a mistake, as 
there are none in Peru, and never have been any ; the report 
having arisen from the ignorance which has prevailed till the 
present time, of the geography of America and Colombia. 

The emerald mines of Muzo, which have been known ever 
since the conquest, have several veins of open mines. The 
principal are those of Camero, Perejil, Plasmera, Coronados, 
Juan Ignacio Camero, Hoyo Antiguo, Geronimo Diaz, Que- 
brada Grande, Peiion, Quebrada Minera, Aguardiente, the 
Cerro, Miguel Ruiz, Agustin Camero and the Eoyal Vein. 
The extent of territory in which these mines are found is 
several leagues ; and in the province of Tunja, inSomondoco, 
others were wrought in the time of the colonial government. 
The land is contiguous, geologically considered. 



67 

The chemical analysis of the Muzo emeralds is as follows, 
according to Klaproth : 

Silica 0,685 

Alumina 0,158 

Glucina 0,125 f- (A. G.) S 3 

Oxide of Chrome . . 0,003 

Oxide of Iron . . 0,010^ 
Transparent to translucent, with double refraction, D. 7, 5 a 
8, 0, P. S. 2,73 a 2,76. 

Emeralds are found in the mines of Muzo, associated with 
calcareous spar, and more frequently with quartz, on a basis of 
pyrites. The veins cross the mountains of Muzo, between 
hornblend slate and granite or slate. Many crystals of eme- 
rald are found among quartz crystals. 

The emerald of Eussia, Brazil, North America and Siberia 
is a different stone. It is a beryl, denominated emerald-beryl. 
Its analysis, according to Gmelin, is : 

Silica 0,6,970 

Alumina 0,1,683 

Glucina 0,1,339 

There are other stones confounded with the fine emerald, 
as the euclase, phainequite, chryso-beryl, leucophane, eudi- 
alite, zircon and torinia, of which there are some in New 
Granada — in Antioquia. 

This explanation has been given, in order to make known 
the difference between real fine emeralds and the stones with 
which they are confounded, of the family of silicates with a 
base of glucine, zircon and torinia. These mines are the 
property of the nation, and the government rents them for a 
sum of money. By the existing contract it is $16,000 a year. 

There are also mines of rock-salt in the cordillera, which 



68 

are a continuation of those of Zipaquira. The great masses 
of that mineral, the calcareous formations with which they 
are covered, and numerous fossil shells, invite to a profound 
study of geology, to determine the antiquity of the continent. 

Fossil bones also are found, of animals no longer existing. 
They are those of the mastodon and elephant, according to 
the classification given them. 

The most important cities and towns of this section are Tun- 
ja, Leiva, Velez, Moniquira, Santarosa, Sogamoso, Garagoa, 
Soata, Chiquinquira, Guateque, Eamiriqui and Cocui. None 
of them contain buildings of importance ; the most remark- 
able is the church of Chiquinquira, which is of solid and 
handsome architecture, erected at the expense of the alms 
and erogations of Catholics, who venerate an image of the 
Virgin painted on canvas, to which the monks of St. Domingo 
give extraordinary credit, attributing to it miracles, most of 
which are ridiculous, but well calculated to draw large offer- 
ings and gifts from the fanatical vulgar. To the pilgrimages 
performed to that shrine, and to the concourse of people 
from all parts, was due the foundation of the town ; and in 
this respect the sanctuary of Chiquinquira has been useful 
to the country. 



SECTION" VI.— GUANENTA. 

Ocana, Pamplona, Santander, Socorro and Soto are the 
provinces composing this section, which is situated between 
the fifth and seventh sections and the Eepublic of Venezuela. 
Its climate is extremely varied, for the whole country is 
mountainous, and such valleys as are found in the territory 
are small, as those of Cucuta and that of Piedecuesta or Bu- 
caramanga. In whatever part we may wish to traverse this 



69 

section, branches of the Cordilleras of the Andes are found. 
The extreme extent is from 6° 15' to 9° 20' of latitude, and 
from 72° 40' to 74° 30' of longitude. The population is 
319,574. The people are active, laborious and well qualified 
for the army as infantry soldiers.* 

The principal cities and towns are Pamplona, San Jil, So 
corro, Piedecuesta, Barichara, Bucaramanga, Giron, Charala, 
Concepcion, San Jose, Malaga, Eosario, Salazar, Oiba, Eo- 
sario and Ocana. The three first of these are the best built, 
but none of them contains buildings constructed according to 
the rules of architecture, although among the churches are 
several pretty good edifices. 

The vallies of Cucuta have been celebrated for their cocoa, 
coffee and indigo, which are sent by the Zulia, to be exported 
from Maracaibo, and are known in commerce as from that 
part of Venezuela, although they come from New Granada. 

The plants are very various ; indeed, as there are low lands 
on the banks of the Magdalena and elevated heights reaching 
to the limits of vegetation, we may say that all the plants are 
found which are named in Tables G and H. 

In minerals this section is one of much importance. The 
mines of Betas and Montosa, both the upper and the lower, 
are rich in gold and silver ; and although recent labors have 
not been satisfactory, we may presume that they have not 
been well managed, and that the mines are very valuable. 

The auriferous lands are important, especially in Zurata, 
Giron and Canaverales, where the gold, which is constantly 
dug out, is more than twenty-three carats fine. 

Copper and iron mines are very abundant, although they 
are not wrought ; and, with the exception of the cantons of 
Giron and Bucaramanga, the people are nowhere devoted to 
to this branch of labor. 

The raising of cattle is rare, compared with other provinces 
* See Table E. 



70 

containing pasture-lands ; and the supply is not sufficient for 
the demand, so that it is necessary to bring in some from 
Casanare, by the way of Cocui. This fact, however, stimulates 
the spirit of enterprise in the Socorrans, for they are found 
in all parts of the Eepublic as agriculturists, and devoted to 
other branches of business. The inhabitants of the provinces 
of Soto and Santander resemble them in this respect, and 
those dwelling in the highest part are much like the inhabit- 
ants of Boyaca. 

The indigenous race has almost disappeared, by being 
mixed with the white, so that this section is inhabited by a 
caste, which is in general energetic and intelligent. The dis- 
trict of Ocana is distinguished, among others in the Repub- 
lic for beautiful women. 



SECTION VII.— THE LITTORAL SECTION OF MAG- 
DALENA. 



The littoral section of the Magdalena, which is composed of 
the provinces lying on the coast of the Atlantic, that are 
watered by the great river whose name I have given it, is a 
very important portion of the Republic. It extends from 
lat. 8° to 12°, exclusive of the islands annexed to it ; and 
from long. 72°10' to 76° 35'. The country is generally level 
and covered with. woods, through which flow the rivers Mag- 
dalena, Cauca, St. George and Zinu, while the deep Atrato 
confounds its waves with those of the ocean. In the east is 
the chain of Santamarta mountains, which rises to the region 
of perpetual snow, and whose majestic aspect is seen from the 
extremity of the Caribbean sea. High vallies and elevated 
table-lands are found in this chain, which we may be assured 
has hardly any connection with the cordillera of the Andes, 
and should be classed as a separate group, destined to con- 



71 

naturalize in its territory the men of the Caucasian race, who, 
on reaching the debilitating shores of Colombia, are unable 
to resist the intertropical climate. The roughness of the 
forests, which must be overcome before reaching a pleasant 
and fruitful elevation, has doubtless been the cause which has 
impeded the settlement ; and these elevated regions are thin- 
ly inhabited by a few hordes of savages and some families of 
the semi-civilized nations of the Motilones. 

The population of this part of the republic amounts to 
249,921, without counting 23,600 savage Indians in the terri- 
tory of Goajira and the deserts of the interior. The greater 
part of these inhabitants are a mixture of the indigenous 
Carib race with the white and Ethiopean, and are well- 
formed, patient of labor, and intelligent, and therefore well 
fitted for agriculture, as well as to navigate the rivers, by 
overcoming the difficulties presented by nature, with her 
leafy vegetation and the innumerable insects and reptiles 
which abound along the banks. 

The principal city is Carthagena, a fortress of the first rank 
in the New World, and celebrated in the annals of the re- 
public, as the first town which proclaimed independence, and 
for enduring a rigorous siege in 1815, by the Spanish army, 
submitting, not from want of bravery or patriotism, but be- 
cause conquered by famine, after the death of many citizens 
and soldiers. To the hand which shall write the history of 
the republic, this topic must be left, to trace a page in letters 
of gold, which can here only be indicated, in mentioning that 
monumental city. 

No other town in the republic contains houses built with 
equal solidity ; and, if they are not constructed in the best 
style, they possess a certain merit, and are commodious and 
adapted to the climate. The whole city is protected by 
good walls, able to resist direct fires of artillery, and so solid 
that the neglect to which they have been abandoned, and the 



1 72 

power of the elements have not ruined them. Some of the 
churches are beautiful and well built, uniting solidity with 
elegance of architecture, as they were designed as a refuge to 
the inhabitants in case of a bombardment. Of this class are 
St. Domingo and San Juan de Dios, which was the Jesuit 
church. At a distance from the square is the castle of St. 
Philip ; on the bay are those of St. Joseph and St. Ferdi- 
nand, at the entrance of Boca Chica ; and at its interior is 
that of Pastelillo. The castles of Angel and Castillo Viejo 
are in ruins. 

The other important towns are Mompoz and Santamarta, 
which are pretty well built, but not comparable with Cartha- 
gena. After these are to be named Kio Hacha and Cienaga., 
Barranquilla, Soledad, Sabanalarga, Corosal, Chinu, Lorica 
and Magangue ; and but little inferior to these are the chief 
towns of the cantons, of which is the old city of Tenerife, 
which has lost its former importance. 

The city of Carthagena has constructed a canal, which con- 
nects the waters of the Magdalena with the bay, and without 
which internal navigation would be incomplete. After it 
was finished the locks were injured, and it is now undergoing 
repairs. At the mouths of the Magdalena is the port of Sa- 
banilla, which will become in the course of time of the great- 
est importance for the exportation of the products of the in- 
terior ; but there is none to be compared with Carthagena, 
which is destined for a free port, and the general depot ot 
the commerce of the northern part of New Granada. 

The vegetation of this section is rich on all the banks of 
the large rivers, abounding in building timber, woods for 
cabinet-work, balsams and precious gums. On the sea-coast 
are good salinas, sufficient to supply the nation and all the 
"West India islands. Provision and cattle are abundant ; and 
the breed of horses, although not large, is a fine one, and of 
incredible endurance, in travelling, not tiring nor failing after 



73 

going many leagues in a single day. Their motions are gen- 
tle, and in air, gusto and spirits they resemble Arabian 
horses, even though they have no care bestowed on the im- 
provement of the breed. Those of Coajira and the savannas 
of the Corosal are the most celebrated. 

In the interior, at the termination of the Cordilleras of the 
Andes, are gold mines ; and it appears indubitable, that 
there are silver mines in the Sierra of Santamarta. 

Although this section is the most accessible to foreign com- 
merce, it has not made the greatest progress since the esta- 
blishment of independence ; and its prosperity depends on 
perfecting internal navigation, by the rivers Magdalena, 
Cauca and Atrato, and a railroad from Eio Hacha to the in- 
terior of the provinces of Upar and Ocana. 

I have now completed the task proposed, viz., to give a 
brief geographical notice of New Granada ; and nothing re- 
mains but to take such a general review of the country as may 
serve to complete the picture of that important part of the 
Columbian continent to which we will proceed in the fol- 
lowing 



CONCLUSION. 

It has not been my intention to write an elementary trea- 
tise on the descriptive geography of New Granada : for I do 
not consider myself sufficiently informed for such a work, nor 
have I the data and collection of facts indispensable for a 
complete memoir. During the first session o*f this Society, 
which I had the honor to attend,* on the 8th of June last, 
I made known, through my friend, Mr. Dwight, what my 
profession has been, and that these notices are the fruit of 
observations and notes made during my travels and military 
campaigns in the country, while studying nature and draw- 



74 

ing comparisons with different books and records which fell 
into my hands. 

Full of self distrust, my opinion has occasionally been ex- 
pressed : but, knowing that incorrect accounts have some- 
times produced important errors in works in many respects 
most useful, from men whose names carry with them respect 
as authorities on the subject, I have been so bold as to pre- 
sent these notices, which have been received with so much 
courtesy by the Geographical Society of New York, and 
which had been prepared to be sent to Europe. In the hands 
of able geographers and statisticians they may perhaps serve 
as memoranda for ulterior investigations and the perfection 
of a science, which is not now, as in long past days, the sim- 
ple description of the places in which certain men were found, 
and .the identifying of the origin of particular people. 

Studious youth are preparing in New Granada, better to 
execute a geographical labor ; and they must surely find, in 
the history of the counfary, illustrious names of citizens, who, 
in a time of ignorance, made the first steps in geography and 
the exact and natural sciences, intimately connected with the 
material and intellectual progress of New Granada. 

After speaking of the geographical position of New Grana- 
da, the formation of its basins, and the direction of its Cordil- 
leras, as well as of its principal rivers ; presenting some ac- 
counts of its mineral riches and vegetable productions, and 
extending our attention to a general view of the animals, 
climate and political geography, justice requires something 
more to be said of those illustrious names I have above men- 
tioned. That brief list should undoubtedly be headed with 
the name of the celebrated Don Jose Celestino Mutis, the pa- 
triarch of Granadan savans. He was born in Cadiz in 1782, 
and in 1760 arrived at Carthagena, at the age of 28. Mathe- 
matics and botany invited his attention ; and he was the first 
who gave lessons in these sciences in the royal college of the 



75 

Eosario in Bogota. Linnaeus and Caranillas introduced him 
to the world, as a savant by his writings.* With time he 
diffused in the country the love of science ; and in 1782 he 
obtained the patronage of Charles III, who appointed him 
director of the botanical expedition ; and he commenced the 
labors of the Flora of Bogota. In 1794, there were young 
men distinguished for their love of science ; and some of 
them, being persecuted for their liberal ideas, were taken to 
Europe. There Don Francisco A. Zea, a native of the pro- 
vince of Antioquia, distinguished himself as a botanist, and 
Don Jose Maria Cabal, a native of Buga, as a chemist. In 
the country shone the celebrated Caldas, a geographer, as- 
tronomer and botanist, as well as a good mathematician ; 
Don Tomas Quijano, a chemist and mineralogist ; Don Manuel 
Maria Arboleda, a naturalist ; Don Jose Ignacio Pombo, a 
statistician : all four of them natives of Popayan ; Don Jorge 
Tadeo Lozano, a botanist and naturalist ; and Don Benedicto 
Dominguez, an astronomer : both these of Bogota ; Don Juan 
Maria Cespedes, a botanist, of Tulua ; and Don Eloi Yalen- 
zuela, and Don Jose Joaquin Camacho, geographers and nat- 
uralists, of the province of Pamplona ; Don Jose Manuel 
Eestrepo, a geographer, of the province of Antioquia ; and 
Don Manuel Maria Quijano, a naturalist, of Popayan. 

These are the names which deserve to oe mentioned as 
those of men prominent in the study of the natural sciences, 
but who, for different reasons, have left but few memorials 
or records relating to geography and other branches. The 

* In mernoriam Josephi Cselestini Mutis, Americes summi botanici, qui 
historiam plantarum americanarum, imprimis palmarum pulcherimum 
parat, et plurima nova huic opusculo communicavit. Lin., suppl. pag. 
57. Nomen immortale quod nulla getas unquam delebit. — Lin. 

In honorem sapientissimi viri (J. C. Mutis) qui jure merito botanicorum 
in America princeps salutatur, debetque etiam inter primates Europas 
collocari. — Cavanillis. ' 



76 

Spanish sword took the lives of Caldas, Cabal and Camacho, 
perhaps the most prominent, because they were among the 
leaders of independence ; and of these remain only Eestrepo, 
Dominguez and Quijano, the survivors of a valiant band of 
youth, who were the basis of the liberty of Colombia. 

I had the pleasure of knowing and conversing with several 
of these men in my younger days ; and, stimulated by their 
example, the day when the nation called me to direct its af- 
fairs, made me resolve to patronize the branches of learning 
useful in public improvement, and I promoted the establish- 
ment of the schools of exact and natural sciences in the 
three universities, by bringing professors from Europe, two 
complete chemical laboratories, and many philosophical in- 
struments. I induced civil engineers to go to New Granada, 
to undertake the work of several carriage roads, and to sur- 
vey the ground on which they were to be made ; and en- 
trusted to the skillful engineer, Colonel Codazzi, the task of 
constructing the geographical chart of New Granada. I 
cherished the navigation of the Magdalena by steam, and the 
completion of the Carthagena canal, opened different ports, 
and concluded the arrangement for forming an association 
for the construction of the Panama railroad, under influences 
which must prove favorable, by a treaty' which as President 
I celebrated with the United States : all these being indis- 
pensable to the progress of New Granada. The short period 
of my presidency did not permit me to do more : but I left 
the chair with a quiet conscience, as I had been able to lay 
the foundation of future prosperity for the nation. 

What other country in the world possesses a more advan- 
tageous position than New Granada? I believe none. With 
ports on the Atlantic and .Pacific oceans, mistress of the Isth- 
muses of Panama and Darien, by which she will unite them, 
at no very distant day, b}^ canals, while in the mean time by 
railroads she will facilitate the commerce of the world; a 



77 

country at once of miner and agriculture, and so varied in its 
climates and productions, as the vallies, basins, table-lands 
and mountains which form the whole, and the description 
of which has been given in this Memoir. 

The morality of the Granadan people, after fourteen years 
of continual struggle in the war of independence and frequent 
political commotions in the last twenty-eight years, is such, 
thatjournies are made in all parts of the country without 
arms, and gold and merchandise are transported, without 
the occurrence of robberies or attacks upon property. The 
couriers carry goods without escorts ; and out of two millions 
and a half of inhabitants, no band of robbers has ever 
been formed on the highways. The crimes which have been 
committed on the Isthmus are exceptions ; but the work of 
abandoned men from other countries, attracted that way by 
the temptation of the gold of California. 

No people pay smaller taxes than the Granadans : for the 
legislature is prudent in imposing them, while the obstacles 
opposed by gigantic nature in the mountains forbid facility 
of transport and immigration. 

If my fellow-citizens, forgetting political passions which 
destroy Spanish- American republics, would devote their ef- 
forts to giving an impulse to the opening of roads and the 
internal navigation of the rivers, that country would become 
one of the happiest in the world. 

Gold is very abundant in the southern and western sec- 
tions ; rich mines of salt, copper, iron and coal, emeralds and 
other precious stones, silver, platina and lead form its princi- 
pal mineral wealth. 

Sugar, coffee, cocoa, indigo, cotton, elastic gum, dye-woods, 
quinas, balsam tolu, balsam of Peru, sarsaparilla, building 
and ornamental woods, vanilla and cochineal abound in New 
Granada, with many other productions of the vegetable king- 
dom. Nothing is wanting but roads, to permit foreign coun / 



78 

tries, especially Chile and California in the New World, to 
see their ports supplied with intertropical productions, and 
America and Europe to receive them by the Atlantic. 

Pearls, pearl and turtle-shell, are abundant in the waters ; 
and hides and wools could be exported with profit from the 
pasture lands on the beautiful and lofty savannas. 

This combination of various products and wealth in all the 
kingdoms of nature is such, that it seems like a poetical pic- 
ture to one who has not visited those vast regions. 

New Granada possesses the vigorous vegetation of Brazil, 
rich gold mines like those of California, and silver mines like 
those of Peru. Its emerald mines are unique ; and it has 
climates adapted to every race, without exposure to the cold 
of the north nor the debilitating heat of Senegal. 



THE END. 



79 



i> 




A MEMOIR ON VARIOUS METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 
MADE BY GENERAL T. C. DE MOSQUERA. 

TRANSLATED BY THEODORE DWIGHT. 

It is well known in science, that the greater or less heat produced 
on the earth by the source of it, the sun, determines the seasons in 
the temperate and the cold regions. Its almost uniform action in 
the zone which is improperly called the torrid, keeps up one con- 
tinued season, if we may so call the perpetual spring with which the 
puets have painted our climate. This idea, the product of ardent 
imaginations, should he investigated and explained by the natu- 
ralist ; and I will attempt to elucidate it, as I have observed some 
celestial phenomena. 

Not being a man of science, but only one fond of the study of 
nature, I write this Memoir for the use of those who devote their 
time to such investigations. 

The treatises on meteorology which I had consulted gave me 
no satisfaction with my observations ; and I therefore conferred 
with M. Dulong in Paris, in 1831, on a phenomenon produced 
by caloric, and the mode of determining by means of the 
thermometer, the hygrometrical states of the atmosphere between 
the tropics. He thought my observation worthy of new experi- 
ments, and recommended to me to continue them and to communi- 



80 

cate them to him, as they had not been made by learned men in the 
temperate zone, where has always been the temple of science. . 

In 1819 I began to make these observations, to determine the 
mean temperature of the air in Popayan, Pasto, and several other 
places in the cordillera of the Andes, between about the latitudes 
of 1°, 2° and 3° north, and at different elevations above the sea. I 
observed that the mean temperature of the different months varied, 
and that a series of regular observations was necessary to ascertain 
the mean annual temperature. The celebrated travellers Humboldt, 
Bonpland, Lacondamine and others, had limited their observations 
to short series, being but a little time in the torrid zone ; and I have 
not found that either of them attempted to find the mean terms of 
each class of observations : that is to say, the maximum and mini- 
mum of the lowest heat in the observations at morning, noon and 
night, and the relations it may have with the different states of the 
atmosphere. The motion of the earth, and the situation in which it is 
placed with respect to the sun, decidedly influence the seasons in the 
extra-tropical zones, and the caloric increases and diminishes by de- 
grees. I endeavored to ascertain the increasing or decreasing pro- 
gression of the temperature, and observed that, as there is no differ- 
ence of seasons in the intertropical zone, the increasing progression 
was marked in the rainy season, and the decreasing in the dry ; the 
mornings and the nights were colder in the dry than in the wet sea- 
sons, although I then experienced a cold or indisposition. I wished, 
therefore, to determine the truth by meteorological observations. 

At Popayan the water of the springs varied several degrees in 
temperature in certain months of the year, being noted as coldest 
while approaching the solstices in June and December. The air 
also was colder ; and as the phenomenon was similar it could not be 
the effect of the position of the earth, as at the former epoch it was 
near the tropic of Cancer, and at the other,'the tropic of Capricorn. 
The greatest heats were marked in the months of April and Novem- 
ber : that is to say, one and two months after the equinox, and in 
opposite circumstances. The mean terms of temperature were ana- 
logous, taken between the maximum and minimum of the diurnal 
observations ; for, when the thermometer was lowest in the morning 



81 

at sunrise, it rose highest at 2 p.m. Hence I concluded, there being 
no seasons in the intertropical zone, that the causes influencing the 
maximum and minimum temperature in the morning, were not due, 
in the different months of the year, to the position of the earth with 
respect to the sun. When the thermometer sunk lowest at the 
morning observation, in certain months or days, it was followed by 
dry and serene weather ; and when it sunk least it was in the rainy 
season : that instrument then gave some results which indicated the 
hygrometric state of the atmosphere. When the thermometer did 
not fall to the regular degree in the morning, I felt a pressure upon 
the brain, when in good health, which I attributed to the pressure of 
the atmosphere ; and the same sensation was experienced by one of 
my sisters. I soon learned that it was the effect of an abundance 
of electricity ; for, as soon as the clouds were discharged by a storm, 
my head was relieved. I then consulted my meteorological instru- 
ments, the thermometer and barometer. It never happened that the 
rising or falling of the latter instrument aided me in knowing whether 
there would be a storm, wind or rain ; and the barometrical aphor- 
isms of European philosophers were nothing to me. That instrument 
was of little use to me in meteorological observations, and I attributed 
the failure of their indications to a possible state of imperfection. I 
then confined my attention to the thermometer, and because I -could 
not observe its daily movements with much regularity, for the want 
of time to devote to science, I was barely able to ascertain, that the 
investigations made by certain travellers were not sufficient to allow 
them to write on that department of meteorology, or that their works 
had never reached me. I was positive the barometer gave no cer- 
tain indications for determining good or bad weather, rain, high 
winds or storms. Such were the ideas which I then commu- 
nicated to M. Dulong in Paris, who gave me some sugges- 
tions concerning the isothermal lines which I ought to form into 
an isothermal zone, in the regions where I should make my 
observations, and where the medium temperature is the same. 
He communicated to me his observations on vapor and its 
effects, which might influence my experiments with boiling water, 
and the rules which I must observe to obtain some results by 
6 



82 

my observations. But he said nothing respecting my doubts, re- 
questing me to send him a series of meteorological and barometri- 
cal observations on atmospheric pressure in the intertropical zone, 
compared with the expansion of mercury in the thermometer, by 
means of boiling water. My first essays I communicated to him ; 
and soon after, the death of that learned man deprived me of his 
counsels. 

During the continuance of my thermometrical observations, I 
found that caloric, radiating from the earth, passes to the higher re- 
gions, when there are no vapors or clouds, with great facility ; and 
that, the atmosphere being then clearer, all solids and fluids on the 
earth have less caloric, the thermometer naturally falling to its 
minimum in the morning, the time when the earth has been longest 
without receiving heat from the sun, and the want of it is most 
felt. This phenomenon doubtless differs in the extratropical 
zones, where the sun acts in different degrees, according to the posi- 
tion of the earth, and gives no clear result respecting the state of 
the atmosphere. The clouds, according to the observations of scien- 
tific men, by obstructing the radiation of caloric, impede the forma- 
tion of dew, and reflect the caloric, according to their density. This 
phenomenon produces an effect contrary to that which I have stated 
when the atmosphere is clear ; and hence the result, that the ther- 
mometer sinks less in the morning when the atmosphere is charged 
with vapor. 

Having scrupulously pursued my observations, I think I have 
found, that a place like Bogota, in 4° 35' 'N. lat. sinks the thermo- 
meter, at 7 metres height from the ground, to 5 centigrades, when 
there is least heat, and 13 when most. The former degree marks 
pleasant weather, and the. latter rain ; 9 and 10 mark variable ; 
from 10° 50' to 13° rain ; below 9° to 7° good weather and clouds; 
below 7° dry and clear. The tables of my meteorological observa- 
tions give these results with few exceptions, in which, nevertheless, I 
have not been able to determine the phenomena which may have 
changed the principle which I adopt, to substitute the thermometer 
for the barometer, because it does not clearly mark the diurnal 
variations. I am hardly able to show that the thermometer has 



83 

fallen to 6 degrees in one day, and that it has rained hard at two 
in the afternoon, with thunder and hail : but I judged that the storm 
was produced by causes not proceeding from the atmospheric state 
of the place, and that the northwest winds carried it over a space 
in which the atmosphere had no vapors in the morning to impede 
the radiation of caloric to the elevated regions. On com- 
paring my observations with the hygrometer of Saussure, they dif- 
fered greatly, that instrument some days showing at 5 a.m. 100° of 
greatest moisture, and 5° at 1 o'clock, without rain. On another 
day there was heavy rain, when scarcely 75° had been indicated, 
and at the lowest grade of humidity, it was only 5°. 

I think the hygrometric states of the atmosphere are more, cer- 
tain when obtained by thermometrical observations, between the 
maximum and minimum of heat at sunrise, than by Saussure's hy- 
grometers, and that they better determine the indications of the 
weather than the barometer. On this I intend to speak hereafter. 

The inter-tropical climates are constant, the differences being 
small between the coldest and the warmest months. Their varia- 
tion consists in the greater or less elevation above the sea. It may 
be regarded as decided, that 29° is the mean on the Pacific coast, 
and 29° 5' on the Atlantic, according to the observations I made at 
Chagres, Carthagena, Santamarta, Barranquilla, Cienaga on the Atlan- 
tic ; and at Panama, Buenaventura, Guapi, Iscuande and Tumaco, on 
the Pacific. In all places in the interior of New Granada I can give 
assurance that the mean terms are in the following proportion : at 
360 metres, 26° ; 667m. 25° ; 874m. 24° ; 900m. 23° ; 1,000m. 
21°; 1,500m. 20°; 1,770m. 19°; 2,000m. 18°; 2,500m. 16°; 
2,660m. 14° ; 2,700m. 13° ; 3,211m. 10°; 3,500m. 9° ; 4,000m. 
7° ; 4,500m. 5° ; 4,800m. 1° 5'. At the depth of one metre the 
mean temperature is found with much regularity. 

In general the latitude and height above the level of the sea are 
the principal causes which determine the mean temperature of a 
spot of ground : but the influence of these two causes must be modi- 
fied by many accidental circumstances, and is greatest in the extra- 
tropical zones from 21°, as well in the northern as in the southern 
hemisphere, comparing places in the same latitudes North and 



84 

South. This same phenomenon is observed in some intertropi- 
cal places ; and it may be said, that, from latitude 10° South, the 
influences of the seasons ceases to be perceived, the temperature 
varying greatly between winter and summer, when in the same 
latitude North, no variation is distinguished but that of the hygro- 
metric state of the atmosphere. Nor would I venture to assert that 
the positions of the planets with respect to the sun, have no influence 
on the metereological state of the atmosphere, as, on the contrary, 
they are alike at the solstices and equinoxes in certain places : but 
it is also certain that, at some points, the dry season continues from 
the solstice of December till that of June, and in other places from 
that of June till that of December : for example, the lower part 
of Magdalena and the Atlantic coasts, and both the coasts of the 
Isthmus of Panama enjoy the dry season from the approach of the 
December solstice ; and on the coast of the Ecuador it commences 
near the June solstice ; but, notwithstanding, the rainy or wet sea- 
soned the dry and clear season in the intertropical climates are 
in general constant. 

The isothermal lines then might be determined between the tropics, 
especially hi the Colombian territory, by isothermal lines from the 
Cordilleras, with only a secondary regard to the latitude, on account 
of the result which we have announced respecting the mean tempe- 
rature at different elevations. And this appears to me the more ex- 
act, from the observations made on the intertropical vegetation, 
which is alike at the same altitudes above the ocean, attributing the 
variety of species of the same genus more to the height from the 
sea, than to the geological formation of the ground ; but, with re- 
spect to the genera, there is a great zone. Agaricus Umbilicatus, 
Leskea involvens, Peperomia foliosa, Dendrobium elegans, and 
Epidendrum geminiflorun*, are found in the Cordilleras of Quindio, 
Guanacas, Almaguer, Pasto and the sides of Chimboraso, between 
1940 and 2100 metres above the level of the sea. Other genera 
embrace a greater zone : as the Melastomas, from 190 to 2000 
metres : but in the species the varieties succeed each other, ac- 
cording to the elevation above the sea, so that, if Melastoma capi- 
tellatum grows from 190 to 1780. the varieties are not everywhere 



85 

alike, but differences are found. For this reason we might allow 
the influence of the atmosphere in its meteorological state, which so 
much contributes to the propagation of plants, and to the ascent and 
descent of sap, and most remarkably in the intertropical zone on 
this account, more than by the influence of the relative position of 
the heavenly bodies. 

By such observations, then, the determination of the isothermal 
lines might be made, in the horizontal bands, along the Cordille- 
ras and the vallies, at the distance of 500 metres at the most ; al- 
though it appears to me, that repeated experiments, according 
to my observations, might go on increasing, commencing the first 
band at the level of the sea, up to 50 metres ; the second from 50 
to 125, the third from 125 to 200, the fourth from 200 to 360, in 
which would be found a grade of difference. Between 360 and 667, 
two bands ; two more between 667 and 874, 'only one between this 
and 900, and between 900 and 1000 ; and between 1000 and 1500, 
four bands. From 1500 to 1770, one band, and another from 1770 
to 2000, From 2000 and 2500, four ; from 2500 to 2660, one ; 
from 2660 to 2700, one; from 2700 to 3211, four; from 3211 to 
3500, one ; from 3500 to 4000, two ; from 4000 to 4500, two ; and 
from 4500 to 4800, four. I have fixed the last band at 4800 metres' 
elevation, which is the most constant of the elevations of perpetual 
snow, as, if mountains are found covered with snow at 4200, it is 
very uncommon, and the effect of hailstones, which continue for 
several weeks ; and it commonly happens, up to 3700 metres, that a 
hail-storm continues several days, if the atmosphere is clear, until 
the heat, reflected by clouds, melts the hail, which assumes the con- 
sistency of ice. In the paramo of Purace I have observed, that when 
the air is at 5°, the snow had a degree of cold, with a bright sun 
and the wind from the northeast, and while the sky was unclouded, 
there was no thawing. Although I was unable to determine the 
elevation, for the want of a barometer, I made an experiment with 
boiling water, which gave me 86 centigrades. The water had not 
been distilled : I used melted snow, and calculated that I might be 
4400 metres above the level of the sea. I made my observations 
at 4 o'clock p.m., October 25th, 1835. 



86 

Wishing to rectify my observations, the 30th of same month I 
went up to the volcano, and, at a much greater elevation was unable to 
kindle a fire for several reasons ; but I enjoyed a phenomenon Very 
peculiar in meteorology. At the distance of about two miria- 
metres West from the snowy region of Purace, on the hills of 
Pusna, there was the appearance of a storm. There were two hori- 
zontal bands of clouds, the lower black, and charged with vapors, 
and the upper illuminated by the rays of the sun. The winds ap- 
peared to be contrary, from the motions of the clouds. As soon as 
the principal masses became parallel, the storm began ; and I ob- 
served that there was a horizontal electrical current in the upper 
band of clouds, and flashes proceeded from it, which lighted it and 
sent rays to the earth, accompanied with the roar of thunder ; and 
in other parts the electricity went up from the lower to the upper 
band, without thunder. The forms presented by that electrical 
phenomenon were various, but always angular and zigzag. I could 
not determine whether there was any fall of rain : but, on descend- 
ing from the paramo, where not a single drop of rain had fallen, the 
sun being bright and the temperature at 4°, I found the storm had 
been accompanied with much hail, though not of great size. The 
largest which I found were four or five millimetres in diameter, and, 
when broken in the middle, showed a radiated structure from the 
centre ; while the smallest had two or three coats, one transparent 
and one opaque, and milk-white. 

Reflecting on that phenomenon, I ventured to conclude, that the two 
bands were positively and negatively electrified, and their mutual re- 
pulsion and attraction carried the molecules of vapor from one to the 
other, and the upper stratum, by absorbing the caloric, produced 
gelation. The rotation of the hailstones gave some a spherical 
form, and others a spheroidal, and sustained them in the air, while 
the force of gravity was compensated by the impulse given bv the 
horizontal electrical currents. 

I have much doubt of the judgment I formed of this phenome- 
non ; and, in writing this part of my observations, I have only the 
intention of submitting them to intelligent men, that they may be 
useful to science. 



87 

In the second part of this memoir, I shall treat of the barometer 
and atmospheric pressure, and of the levels which I have Tbeen able 
to take in New Granada. 



PART SECOND. 

At the time when I was making the observations above treated 
of, I consulted the barometer ; and I was never able to discover any 
variations in the height of the mercury, but those given by the 
hourly variations. The learned men of the extratropical zones 
have fixed them at 9 o'clock a.m., noon, 3 p.m. and 9 at night. In 
the intertropical zone I have observed that the maximum of eleva- 
tion varies between 9 and 10 a.m., the minimum between 3 and 4 
p.m., and that the medium is- at noon. At 11 p.m. and 4 a.m. there 
is another constant variation of maximum and minimum, whatever 
may be the state of the atmosphere, so that I have never been able 
to ascertain by the barometer whether there would be good or bad 
weather, storms or high winds. There are, however, continual 
variations, which keep the barometer in continual oscillation, above 
and below the medium annual height. Comparing the effects on 
different barometers, I have observed that those of Fortin are the 
most sensitive, and those of Bunten and Gay-Lussac are less sen- 
sitive to oscillations, although the differences are very small. 

I wished to compare anterior observations with the atmospheric 
pressures deduced from those made with boiling water, by availing 
myself, as a guide, of the memoir of our lamented countryman, 
Colonel Caldas, written in the year 1801, and printed in Bordeaux 
in 1818, before the scientific men of Europe had considered the 
theory which is now so well known to the learned. In Popayan a 
barometer of Gay-Lussac gave me 620 mm 35, and boiling water 
94° 46. In Coconuco, 570 mm 22, and boiling water 92° 5. In Co- 
balo, the summit of the cordillera above Coconuco, where is a spring 
of boiling water at 58°, the barometer gave me 551 mm 92, and boil- 
ing water 91° 25. At the distance of about 5 killometres, near 
another spring of tepid water, which has the temperature of 26°, 



the barometer and boiling water gave me the same pressure as in 
Cabalo, viz. 551 mm 92, and 91° 25, with no other difference than the 
hours at which I made the observations, as the former were lh. 
30m. p.m., and the latter at 2h. 50m. p.m., when the barometer, by 
horary variation, ought to have fallen 1 millimetre. 

Colonel Caldas, after different observations, in which he took for 
exponent 0° 974 of Eeaumur's thermometer, corresponding with 12 
lines of the barometrical scale, found some few variations between 
his calculations by boiling water and the barometrical pressures ob- 
served, as may be seen in the memoir which I quote. Some of the 
observations having been rectified by me. I also found very small 
differences, which I attributed to horary variations of the barometer. 
This showed me that his exponent was scarcely approximate ; and 
that, although his discovery was important and original, it ought to 
be proceeded in with attention to bring it to perfection. I made an 
effort in Paris, in 1831, to obtain some instruments, and the en- 
gineers Pixi and Chevalier, whom I applied to to ascertain whether 
they had constructed barometrical thermometers, informed me that 
they had not. I then had one made by M. Chevalier, according to 
the system of Caldas, which has served me many times, although I 
do not think it very exact, because the scale commences at 40°, and 
by comparing it with others, some small differences are discovered. 

From the observations which I have quoted above, it may be 
seen that there is much relation between the facts obtained by the 
barometer and the thermometer, to ascertain the atmospheric pres- 
sure by boiling water : but, as a thermometer is required of con- 
siderable size, and giving decimal divisions of each degree, it would 
be necessary to construct one, with a receiver of sufficient diameter 
to make the degrees in the capillary tube larger, and to add length 
to the scale, to calculate the pressures. Only in this way, after a 
long series of observations, could it be definitely established, whether 
there is an exact proportion between the scales of the barometer 
and the degrees of heat in boiling water at different places. The 
exponent of Caldas, 0° 974 for 121 i s good for elevations between 
620 and 562 millemetres ; but from the time when it reaches one of 
545mm j 9i o as tnat f Quito, the difference between the barometer 



89 

and the calculation by boiling water is 2,65 mm ; and when the pressure 
is increased to 7G3.48 mm , as in the valley of Patia, the difference of 
the calculation is 3.47 mm . 

Some observations made by Baron Humboldt at Quito and Bo- 
gota, give 90° 1 and 90° 9 to boiling water, which correspond with 
the atmospheric pressures of 527 and 544 mm , according to the cal- 
culations of that learned naturalist : but, by the observations of 
Caldas, water boiled at Quito at 90° 35, and his barometer rose to 
545.91 ; at Bogota boiling water 91° 90, and his barometer 562.62. 
My observations in that city give me 91° 9 and 92; and Fortin's 
barometer 561.75 and 562+2.9, correction for the capillarity of the 
tube=564.9. 

With the different barmometers with which I made a series of 
observations in the intertropical zone, the variation between the 
maximum and minimum in each place has never exceeded 3 mm , and 
hence I infer, that the barometer is a much more certain instrument 
in those regions, to calculate the real atmospheric pressure, than in 
the extratropical zones, where there are so many variations, pro- 
ceeding from the meteorological state of the atmosphere ; and that, 
to use the thermometer to calculate atmospheric pressure by the 
density of the vapor of water, it is not only necessary to construct 
instruments which shall give the decimal parts of a degree, but a 
scientific journey should be made from the highest of our snowy 
Cordilleras to the coasts of both oceans, in order to calculate the 
exponent of a general formula, or to ascertain whether there is an 
arithmetical proportion, as I believe, between the relation of the 
degrees marked by the thermometer according to the density of 
vapor and the atmospheric pressures calculated by the ascent of 
mercury in a well constructed barometer. 

For my own part I believe, that most of the barometers brought 
from Europe arrive in an imperfect state, although they may not be 
broken ; and that it is indispensable to clean them of the mercury, 
and to boil it again ; for I cannot attribute to any other cause the 
differences which I have noticed in my observations compared with 
those of the illustrious traveler, Baron Humboldt. I generally 
find that the observations of that learned man give one degree of 



90 

pressure less than those I made in the same places ; and it appears 
that the rising of the mercury ha my barometers to a greater height, 
proves that the tube of the barometer is more exhausted, and that 
there is no pressure from the vapors or air. As barometers from 
Europe reached me broken or out of order, I found myself under 
the necessity of reconstructing them with longer tubes, and by using 
well purified mercury. I may hereafter publish the tables of my 
barometrical observations, as they may prove useful to young men 
now devoting themselves to natural science, may serve in making 
comparisons, and afford materials in preparing for certain public 
works. 

To calculate the tension of the vapor of boiling water I ordered 
a small vessel to be constructed, with a double concentric bottom, 
and the space to be filled with charcoal, that the thermometer, placed 
in a cylinder of the vessel, might show the degrees of heat con- 
tained, without the necessity of introducing it into the water, whose 
strata do not give the medium degree : the lowest of them being 
very hot, where the pressure is greatest, and, therefore, the ebullition 
the least. But when the water evaporates every atomic molecule 
of vapor carries with it, to the cylinder of the little vessel, heat 
equal to that of the stratum from which it proceeds ; and its irradia- 
tion shows in the result, that it all has the same degree of heat. 
By operating in this manner, I believe a good result may be obtain- 
ed with greater certainty, in comparing the density of vapor by the 
thermometer, and atmospheric pressure indicated by the barometer. 

I believe that, at small expense and in a short time, these studies 
might obtain a very desirable degree of perfection ; and that stu- 
dents, commencing their scientific pursuits in the Institute of New 
Granada, will make indubitable progress. This affords me much 
gratification ; and, desiring to stimulate my young countrymen to 
pursue studies so important, I publish these notes, with the hope 
that they will be corrected by other observers. 



91 

TABLE B. 

Of the geographical position of numerous places in New Granada, their 
medium temperature, height above the level of the sea, and names 
of those by whom the observations were made. 





Latitude 
north. 


Longitude 

from 
Oreenwch 


Temperature 


Height above 
the sea. 




PLACES. 


Fahr. 


Cent. 


Metres 


English 
feet. 


Observers and Notes. 




0°45' 

0°47' 

0°45' 

0°48' 

0° 46' 30" 

0°49' 

0° 54' 30" 

0°50' 

0° 49' 32" 

0° 50' 30" 

0° 55' 

0°58' 

1° 1' 

1° 2' 

1° 2' 30" 

1° 3' 

1' 3' 30" 

1° 6' 

1° 8' 

1° 9' 50" 

1°11' 

1°13' 

1° 12' 30" 

1°13' 30" 

1°14' 

r 16' 

1° 17' 30" 

1°24' 

1°21' 

1°23' 

1° 24' 30" 

1°27' 

1°40' 

1°30' 

1°50' 

1°54' 

1°54' 

2° 

2° 10' 

2° 12' 

2° 3' 

2° 15' 

2° 18' 

2° 19' 

2° 24' 

2° 25' 30" 
2° 26' 
2° 26' 17" 
2° 27' 
2° 26' 30" 
2° 26' 30" 
2° 27' 17' 
•2° 27' 17' 
a 25' 


77° 40' 00" 
77° 58' 
77° 15' 45" 

77° 28' 
77° 27' 45" 
77° 53' 
77° 45' 
77° 44' 
77° 41' 
77° 39' 
77° 39' 
77° 22' 
77° 40' 
77° 28' 
77° 32' 
77° 23' 
77° 22' 
77° 20' 
77° 24' 
77° 25' 
77° 20' 45" 
77° 

76° 56' 45" 
77° 15' 
77° 18' 
77° 10' 
77° 12' 
77° 3' 
77° 4' 
77° 6' 
76° 45' 
76 °40' 
76° 20' 

76° 54' 45" 
76° 50' 

76° 48' 
76° 46' 
76° 51' 
76° 45' 
76° 45' 

76° 35' 

76° 33' 

76° 28' 
76° 39' 45" 
76° 34' 
76° 38' 
76° 19' 
76° 25' 
76° 25' 
76° 22' 


55° 4 
50° , 

53° 6 

53° 
41° 
53° 6 
51° 8 
51° 8 
50° 
53° 6 
68' 
55° 4 
57° 2 
55° 4 
55° 4 
57° 2 
53° 6 
53° 6 
55° 4 
57° 2 
57° 9 
57° 9 
53° 6 
59° 

64° 4 
71° 6 
64° 4 
71° 6 
64° 4 
55° 4 

41° 
53° 6 

41° 
60° 8 
50° 

53° 6 

59° 
60° 8 
66° 2 
69° 8 

64° 4 

60° 8 
60° 8 
66° 2 

66° 2 

59° 


13° 
10° 

12° 

5° 
12° 
11° 
11° 
10° 
12° 
20° 
13° 
14° 
13° 
13° 
14° 
12° 
12° 
13° 
14° 
14° 4 
14° 4 
12° 
15° 
18° 
20° 
18° 
20° 
18° 
13° 

5° 
12° 

5° 
16° 
10° 

9° 
12° 
15° 
16° 
19° 
21° 

14° 
18° 
13° 
18° 
16° 
16° 
19° 

19° 

18° 8' 
15° 


3070 
4347 

3083 

4500 

3100 

3100 

3150 

3141 

3125 

1664.4 

2713 

2650 

3038 

2713 

2616 

3100 

3000 

2700 

2615 

2692 

2605.6 

3098 

2600 

1900 

1504.6 

2101 

1504.6 

2286.8 

286S.9 

4350 
2179 
3109 
2268.63 
3305 
2878.8 
2900 
2450 
2225.75 
2034.75 
939.41 
1169. 4 
1380 
1126.7 
1949 
1031 
1799 
2120 
1800 
2301 
2360 
1775.5 

1771 
1770 

2642 
2670 
3600 


10,072 
14,203 

10,115 

14,764 

10,171 

10,171 

10,335 

10,305 

10,255 
5460.8 
8901 
8692,6 
9967.7 
8901 
8683 

10.171 
9S43 
8858.7 
8579.8 
8602.8 
8546 

10,164 
8530.6 
6233.9 
4935.6 
6893.4 
4936.6 
7501.02 
9412.9 

14,272.3 
7142.7 

10,200.6 
7433.4 

10,843.7 

10,045.3 
9505.9 
8038.4 
7302.7 
6674 
3073.2 
3835.8 
4527.8 
3696.7 
6394.7 
7263.7 
5902.5 
6955.7 
5907.8 
7549.5 
77432 
5825.4 

5810.6 
5807.3 
8665.7 
8760.2 
11,811.6 


.Mosquera. 




Do. 












Mosquera. 
Bouguer. 
Mosquera. 
Do. 








Do. 




Do. 




Do. and Humboldt, ht. 




Do. 








Do. do. do. 
Do. 




Do. 








Do. 




Do. 




Do. 










Do 


Mosquera. 

Bouguer and Caldas. 
Mosquera,Humboldt,height 
Do. 


Do 








Mosquera, Humboldt. 

Do. do. height. 




















Do. 








Do. 

Do. and Mosquera. 

Do. do. 

Do. 

Do. do. 

Do. 






Do. do. 


La Asceucion (town) 

La Asequia Esmita 

La Horqueta (cascrio) 


Do. do. 

Do. do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 




Do. 








Mosquera. 






Mosquera. 

Mosquera and Caldas. 
Mosquera. 








Do 




Do 

Do 


Mosquera. 




Mosquera. 
Humboldt. 
Mosquera, 1837. 


Cascada del Vinagre 


57° 2 14° 
44° 6 ' 7° 



92 





Latitude 
north. 


longitude 

from 
Greenwch 


Temperature 


Height above 
the sea. 




PLACES. 


Fahr. 


Cent. 


Metres 


Knglish 
feet 


Observers -and notes. 


Cobalo (boiling water)... 
Chiliglo (tepid water) 


2° 26' 
2° 25' 
2° 25' 30" 
2° 25' 31" 
2° 25' 32" 
2° 27' 
2° 27' 
2° 26' 
2° 26' 
2° 26' 

2" 26' 
2° 26' 

2° 28' 
2" 30' 
2° 32' 
2° 32' 
2° 34' 
2° 28' 
2° 25' 
2° 23' 
2° 30' 18" 
2° 38' 
2° 40' 
2° 45' 
3° 10' 
3° 23' 

3° 24' 
3° 25' 
3° 30' 
3° 35' 
4° 10' 
4° 15' 
4° 23' 
4° 25' 
4° 28' 
4° 32' 
4° 32' 
4° 37' 

4° 38' 
4° 30' 
4° 38' 
4° 35' 
4° 36' 
4° 35' 30" 
4° 36' 12" 
4° 35' k 
4° 35' 
4° 35' 
4° 35' 

4° 45' 
4° 39' 
4° 36' 

4° 41' 
4° 40' 

6° 12' 
4° 40' 

5° 


76° 23' 
76° 23' 
76° 28' 30" 
76° 29' 

id. 
76° 31' 
76° 34' 
76° 22' 30" 

id. 
76° 23' 

id. 

id. 

id. 

id. 

76° 33' 
76° 1' 
76° 16' 

76° 10' 2" 

76° 4' 17" 
75° 48' 42" 
75° 33' 51" 
75° 21' 33" 
75° 24' 

75° 30' 

id. 
75° 15' 
75° 15' 
75° 22' 
75° 5' 
75° 

74° 50' 
74° 45' 
74° 40' 
74° 41' 
74° 40' 
74° 40' 
74° 32' 

74° 35' 
74° 30' 
74° 20' 
74° 13' 45" 
74° 14' 
74° 14' 15" 
74° 14' 15" 
74° 14' 17" 
74° 14' 17" 
74° 14' 10" 
74° 14' 10" 

74° 29' 
74° 30' 

74° 33' 

74° 40' 
74° 40' 


55° 4 
55° 4 
55° 4 
62° 6 
59° 
60° 8 
64° 4 
23° 
20° 2 
30° 2 

id. 

id. 
42° 8 
44° 6 

57° 2 
46° 4 
40° 
41° 

64° 4 
74° 3 

74° 7 

87° 

38° 5 
88°' 
79° 
90° 
74° 5 
84° 75 
85° 
78° 25 
79° 25 
93° 
81° ' 5 
83° 

72° 
74° 5 
57° 2 
61° 4 
61° 17 
59° 
62° 6 

51° 8 

50° 
49° 55 
57° 88 
57° 2 

56° 76 
64° 61 
66° 2 
64° 4 
64° 4 
75° 7 
77° 
74° 21 

64° 4 
68° 45 


13° 
13° 
13° 
17° 
15° 
16° 
1S° 

5° 

1° 

1° 

id. 

id. 

6° 

7° 

14° 

8° 

5° 

18° 
23° 5 

23° 8 

30° 5 

3V 4 
31° 11 
26° 11 
32° 2 
23° 6 
29° 3 
29° 44 
25° 7 
26° 25 
33° 9 
27° 5 
2S° 33 

22° 22 
23° 
14° 

16° 24 
16° 15 
15° 
16° 7 

10° 75 
10° 
9° 31 
14° 3S 
14° 

13° 75 
18° 12 
19° 
18° 
13° 
24° 5 
25° 
23° 45 

18° 
20" 25 


2634 
2143 
2271 
2196 
1900 
5184 
5000 
4432 
4412 
4450 
4412 
4100 
3418 
1S51 
2560 
3038 
4100 
3635 

1750 
1380 ■ 
1288.5 
1103.S 
1313 
1063.8 
1119.5 
1061.8 
768.8 
765 
627.18 
587 
560 
608 
514.2 
531.2 
596.8 
494.56 
551.88 
5S1.64 
489.4 
894.2 

581.25 
1445.9 
2740.6 
2661 
2644.7 
2644.18 
2635.9 
3267.9 
3364.7 
3233.9 
3215.8 
3192.7 
2630.2 
2590 
2763.46 
2767.9 ' 
2409.1 
1371.5 
1856 

1246.T 
790.83 
837.5 
1083.6 
1871.1 
1943.3 


8642.1 
7031.1 
7451.1 

7205 

6233.9 

17.008.7 

16,405 

14,. 541. 4 

14,473.7 

14,600.4 

14,473.7 

13,452.1 

11,214.4 

6073.1 

8409.3 

9967.6 

13,452 

11,926.4 

5641.7 
4527.7 
4227.5 
3621.5 
44243 
3506.7 
3673.06 
3482.7 
2511.4 
2509.9 
2058.1 
1925.9 
18,50.48 
1994.8 
1687.09 
1742.86 
1852.7 
1622.6 
1810.7 
190S.3 
1805.7 
2934 

1802.4 

4738 

8991.7 

8730.7 

8677.2 

8655.5 

8648.3 

10,887.5 

11,039.5 

10,610.4 

10,660.9 

10,476.3 

8699.6 

8487.7 

8870 

9081.6 

7904.2 

4498.8 

6089.5 

4188.2 

2635.12 

2747-8 

3555.2 

6139 

7415.9 


Mosquera. 1337. 
Do. 1837. 
Do. 1850. 




Do. do. 


Carpintero 


Do. do. 
Do. do. 




Do. do. 


Purace (Nevado summit).. 
Do. crater of the volcano 


Caldas. 
Mosquera, 1850. 

Do. 
Humboldt. 
Caldas. 




Mosquera. 




Do. 




Humboldt. 




Do. 




Mosquera. 


Guanacas (paramo) 

Do 

Do 


Caldas. 

Mosquera. 

Bouguer. 




Mosquera. 




Do. 


La Plata (city) 


Caldas and Mosquera. 

Do. do. 
Mosquera. 




Do. 




Do. 




Do. 
Do. 


River Magdalena Neiva... . 


Do. 
Do. 




Do. 




Do. 




Do. 




















Caldas. 




Mosquera. 


Juntas, (rivers Apulo and 
Bogota) 










Humboldt. 


Do 


La Condamine and Lewy. 




Mosquera. 


Do 


Caldas. 




Humboldt. 




Caldas. 




Lewy and Mosquera. 




Humboldt. 

Lewy and Mosquera. 




Lewy. 


Do 


Mosquera, 1843. 


Alto del Roblo 


Humboldt. 


Do 


Lewy. 




Do. 




Mosquera. 




Do. 








Lewy. 




Mosquera, 1842 and 1849. 


Do 


Lewy, 1848. 




Humboldt, 1801. 


Klto del Trigo 


Mosquera, 1849. 




Lewy, 1848. 



PLACES. 


Latitude 
north. 


Longitude 

from 
Greenwch 


Temperature 


Height above 
the sea. 




Fajir. 


Ceut. 


Metres 


English 
feet. 


Observers and notes. 




5° 4' 
5° 4' 
5° 4' 
5° 7' 

5° 12' 

5° 11' 
5° 11' 
5° 11' 
5° 25' 
5° 30' 

5° 40' 

6° 12' 
6° 12' 
6° 13' 

6° 42' 
6° 54' 
7° 32' 
8° 

8° 23' 
8° 21' 
9° 14' 

9° 48' 
10° 41' 
10° 59' 

10° 56' 30" 
10° 25' 
11° IS' 
9° 20' 


74° 47' 45" 
74° 47' 45" 
74° 47' 45" 
74° 50' 

74° 50' 
74° 52' 38" 

74° 52' 45" 
74° 52' 45" 
74° 52' 45" 
74° 50' 
74° 50' 

74° 45' 

id. 
74° 40' 

id. 
74° 39' 

74° 18' 
74° 15' 
74° 8' 
74° 9' 
74° 2' 
74° 
74° 30' 

74° 40' 
74° 40' 
74° 50' 

75° 0'30" 

75° 29' 45" 
74" 15' 
79° 48' 


73° 63 

74° 58 

68° 9 
81° 9 

85° 1 
85° 1 
82° 4 
83° 33 

86° 
81° 6 

77° 9 
80° 2 
93° 2 
86° 25 

86° 
88° 7 
87° 8 
86° 
95° 
91° 4 
104° 
86° 36 
87° 4 
83° 2 
87° 8 
84° 2 
S6° 
85° 6 
86° 
83° 3 
86° 


23° 13 

23° 66 

20° 5 
27° 5 

29° 5 
29° 5 

28° 
28° 52 

30° 
27° 6 

32° 
25° 5 
26° 8 
34° 
30° 15' 

30° 

31° 5 

31° 

30° 

35° 

33° 

40° 

30° 2 

30° 8 

34° 

31° 

29° 

30° 

29° 8 

30° 

28° 5 

30° 


1008.6 
995.7 
1149.9 
1401.2 
1372.9 
1676.1 
18S.34 
185.8 
219.11 
221.6 
253.4 
182.5 
177.16 
199 
164.91 
168.4 
162.5 
154.3 
141.7 
155.9 
140 
137.5 
111.5 
92 
69.2 
57 

63.72 
39.3 
37.5 
30 

28.51 
25.16 
19.16 
00.0 





6309.2 
3266.S 
3781.7 
4597.3 
4504.4 
5497.2 
617.94 
609.6 
718.8 
792.6 
831.4 
598.7 
581.2 

441 
552.5 
533.6 
506.2 
464.9 
511.5 
459.3 
451.1 
364.8 
241.8 
227 
187.6 
209.06 
128.9 
123.03 
101.51 
93.54 
82.54 
62.86 


Mosquera. 
Lewy. 


Do 


Do 




Mosquera. 
Lewy.' 


Do 


Do 




Mosquera. 

Lewy. 

Mosquera, 1842-49. 

Lewy. 


Do..... 




Do 


Do .*.... 




Mosquera. 
Do. 




Do 




Do 


Mosquera. 
Lewy. 
Do. 




Do 


Mosquera (Noon.) 

Id. (inlOobs. in4days,1849 


Angostura de Cararefin.. . 


Do 


Mosquera. 
Do. 
Do. 




Sa : Pablo (town) 


Do. 




Do. 




Lewy. 

Mosquera. 
Mosquera. 
Lewy. 
Mosquera. 
Do. 






Do 


Plato 






Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 




Lewy. 

Mosquera. 








4° 44' 
5° 12' 

4° 27' 
4° 46' 

3° 55' 

3° 13' 
3 3 ll' 
3° 6' 29" 
3" 2' 
2° 26' 


76° 5' 45" 
75° 1'45" 

76° 10' 

76° 35' 
76° 36' 


79° 7 
80° 6 
81° 95 
78° 8 
72° 95 
68° 
68" 

32° 
23° 

77° 

71° 6 
78° 8 
74° 66 
75° 2 
74° 66 
6S° 23 
68° 
64° 4 


26° 5 

27° 

27° 75 

26° 

22° 75 

20° 

20° 

0° 

5° 

25° 

22° 
26° 
23° 7 
24° 
23° 7 
20° 14 
20° 
13° 


395.8 

926 

997.6 

780 

997 
1364 
2198.5 
2042 
3192 
3504 
4785 
4807 
5583.9 
5494 
2412.9 
1793 

974.5 

877 

916 
1000 

901 
1025 
1040 
1020.4 
1089 
1185 
1972 


1298.6 

3048.2 

3273.2 

2559-1 

3271.1 

4475.2 

7213.2 

6699.7 

10,472.9 

11,496.6 

15.699.5 

15,771.7 

18,320.7 

18,123.8 

7916.7 

5882.8 

3197.3 

2877.4 

3005.3 

3281 

2956.18 

3363 

3412.2 

3266.9 

3573 

3887.9 

6470.1 








Do 


Lewy. 






Lewy. 






Do. 


Toche 


Do. 




Do. 


Do 


Do. 
Do. 




Do. 


Do.... 






Do. 




Do. 




Do. 


River Cauca at Cartago. . . 


Do. 
Do. 






River Cauca at Buga., 


Humboldt. 




Do. 






Matarredonda 6 Cupresia.. 


Mosquera in 1837. 




Do. 




1°29'20" 
1°45' 

2° 
2° 1' 


77° 

77° 10' 30" 
77° 3' 
77° 3' 


57° 2 
78° 8 

77° 
78° 


14° 

26° 
25° 
25° 56 


2615 

682 
701 


8579.8 

2237 

2299.9 


Mosquera. 
Mosquera. 
Caldas. 
Do. 





94 





Latitude 
north. 


L,ongitude 

from 
Greenwch 


Temperature 


Height above 
the sea. 




PLACES. 


Fahr. 


Cent. 


Metres 


English 
feet. 


Observers and Notes. 


Bordo 


2° 10' 


" 


« 


•' 


900 
1169 


2852.9 
3835.4 


Id. 




Humboldt. 




2° 28' 
2° 30' 

2° 34' 
2° 34' 30" 
2° 35' 
2° 36' 
2° 36' 
2° 40' 
2° 48' 
2° 48' 
2° 50' 
2° 55' 
3° 

3° 01' 
3° 02' 
3° 03' 
3° 04' 
3° 05' 
3° 06' 
3° 07' 
3° 09' 
3° 11' 
3° 14' 
3° 16' 
3° 16' 40" 
3° 16' 50" 
3° 17' 
3° IS' 
3° 20' 
3° 21' 
3° 21' 40" 
3° 17' 
3° 23' 
3° 24' 
3° 25' 

3=24' 
3° 26' 
3° 26' 50" 
3° 26' 
3° 28' 
3° 29' 
3° 40' 
3° 48' 
3° 50' 
3° 52' 
3° 53' 
3° 54' 
3° 54' 

3° 55' 
3° 56' 
3° 51' 

3° 50' 

1 3 ° 4 8 ; 


76° 34' 
76° 36' 

76° 35' 

id. 

id. 

id. 
76° 36' 
76° 37' 
76° 36' 
76° 36' 
76° 37' 
76° 38' 
76° 38' 
76° 37' 50" 

id. 
76° 37' 

id. 

id. 

id. 

id. 
76° 38' 

id. 

id. 

id. 
76° 39' 

id. 
76° 38' 
76° 37' 50" 
76° 37' 
76° 37' 10" 

id. 
76° 38' 

id. 
76" 38' 50" 
76° 39' 45" 

76° 39' 
76° 41' 
76° 41' 30" 
76° 41' 40" 
76° 41' 
76° 40' 
76° 43' 
76° 43' 
76° 44' 
76° 44' 
76° 45' 
76° 46' 
76° 47' 
76° 4S' 
76° 48' 
76° 50' 
77° 

77° 11' 
77° 12' 


6S° 
39° 8 

64° 4 
66° 2 
66° 2 
62° 6 
60° 8 
60° 8 
62° 6 
71° 6 
71° 6 
73° 4 
77° 
73° 4 
71° 6 
68° 
77° 
80° G 
69° 8 
71° 6 
75° 2 
77° 
78° 6 
78° 6 
68° 
73° 4 
77° 
77° 
78° 8 
80° 6 
75° 2 
73° 4 
71° 6 
71° 6 
71° 6 
75° 2 
77° 
69° 8 
69° 8 
69° 8 
66° 2 
64° 4 
69° 8 
75° 2 
75° 2 
73° 4 
73° 4 
69° 8 
68° 
75° 2 
78° 8 
S4° 2 
84° 2 
87° 8 
86° 


20° 
21° 

18° 

19° 

19° 

17° 

16" 

16° 

17° 

22° 

22° 

23° 

25° 

23° 

22° 1 

20° 

25° 

21° 
22° 
24° 
25° 
26° 
26° 
20° 
23° 
25° 
25° 
26° 
27° 
24° 
23° 
22° 
22° 
22° 
24° 
25° 
21° 
21° 
21° 
19° 
18° 
21° 
24° 
24° 
23° 
23° 
21° 
20° 
24° 
26° 
29° 
29° 
31° 
30° 


1842 
1778 
1778 
1936 
1901 
1661 
2001 
1959 
1857 
1802 
1752 
1752 
1669 
1217 
1535 
1501 
1447 
1399 
1462 
1588 
1601 
1360 
1185 
1112 
1104 
1133 
1098 
1050 
1046 
1058 
1052 
1139 
1065 
1033 
1055 
1078 
999 
1095 
1771 
1814 
1792 
2247 
1535 
1216 
1094 
1028 
1302 
1062 
952 
1156 
778 
388 
273 
141 
49 
1 00 


6643.6 
5833.6 
6833.6 
6342 
6237.18 
5449.7 
6565.2 
6427.4 
6093 
5852.3 
5748.3 
5748.3 
5475.9 
3992.9 
5036.3 
4924.7 
4847.6 
4790.1 
4896.8 
5210.2 
5252.8 
4582.1 
38S7.9 
3648.4 
3622.2 
3717.3 
3602.5 
3445.05 
3431.9 
3471.4 
3451.5 
2737.05 
3497.2 
3387.2 
3461.4 
3536.9 
3277.7 
3592.6 
5810.6 
6885.5 
6877.5 
7372.4 
6036.3 
3969.6 
3589.4 
3372.8 
427 l.S 
3484.3 
3123.3 
3792.8 
2552.6 
1273 
895.7 
462.6 
160.7 
00 


Mosquera, 1S50. 




Do. 


Cofre 


Do. 




Do. 




Do. 




Do. 




Do. 
Do. 

Do. 




Do. 


Do. in 1S37 


Do. 




Do. 


Height of Aganche 


Do. 
Do. 


Height of San Ignaoio 

Height of San Gregoiio 


Do. 
Do. 
Do. 


River Teta 


Do. 
Do. 




Do. 
Do. 
Do. 




Do. 




Do. 
Do. 




Do. 
Do. 


Plain of Canaverales 


Do. 
Do. . 




Do. 




Do. 




Do. 


Quebrada Cafiasgordas 

Cali 


Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 




Do. 




Do. 


First height of San Antonio 


Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 




Do. 




Do. 


Quebrada Naranjo 

Do. Jimenez 

Height of Cafiasgordas 


Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 
Do. 




Do. 




Do. 




Do. 




Do. 



95 

TABLE C. 

Actual division of the territory of New Granada, the 
population, and increase or decrease, compared with the pre- 
ceding census, and the extreme latitudes and longitudes of 
the provinces. 



PROVINCES. 



Antioquia 

Azuero 

Barbacoas 

Bogota 

Buenaventura 

Cartagena 

Casanare 

Cauca 

Cordoba 

Cundinamarca 

Chiriqui 

Choco 

Mariquita 

Medellin, 

Mompox 

Nieva .. , 

Ocailia 

Pamplona 

Panama 

Pasto 

Popayan 

Riohacha 

Sabanilla 

Santamarta 

Santander 

Socorro 

Soto 

Tequenthama 

Tundama 

Tunja 

Tuquerres 

Valley of Upar 

Velez 

Veraguas 

Zipaquira 

Territory of Goajira. . 
Territory of Mocoa . . 



Total. 



Latitude 
north. 



22 


' a. 8° 50' 


75° 


20' 


15 


a. 8° 18' 


79° 


50' 


50 


a 3° 20' 


77° 


y'78 




a. 5° 10' 


68° 


15' 


10 


a 4° 30' 


76° 


23' 





a 10° 40' 


71 


50' 





a 6° 55' 


68° 


20' 


20 


a. 5° 22' 


75° 


30' 





a 6° 30' 


74° 


30' 





a. 5° 15' 


72° 


30' 





a 9° 45' 


81° 


5' 


30 


a 8° 50' 


76° 


0' 





a 6" 12' 


74° 


45' 


20 


a. 8° 0' 


74° 


0' 


30 


a 9° 35' 


74° 


6' 


30 


a. 4° 0' 


74° 


0' 


45 


a 9° 20' 


73° 


0' 


40 


a 7° 15' 


75° 


30' 


30 


a. 9° 35' 


77 J 


20' 





a 1° 45' 


17' 


0' 


25 


a 3° 22' 


76° 


0' 


45 


a 12° 0' 


72° 


10' 


35 


a 11° 5' 


74= 


40' 


20 


a 11° 20' 


73° 


40' 


15 


a, 8° 20' 


72° 


40' 


15 


a. 7° 10' 


73° 


10' 


55 


a 8° 25' 


73° 


0' 


5' 


a 4° 40' 


74° 


0' 


30 


a 6° 40' 


72° 


30' 


15 


a 5° 35' 


73° 


5' 


45 


a 1° 30' 


77° 


0' 


20 


a 10° 25' 


73" 


0' 


40 


a 6° 15' 


73° 


40' 





a 9° 10' 


80° 


0' 





a 5" 30' 


73° 


55' 


20' 


a 12° 30' 


71." 


15' 


5' 


S. a 4° N. 


65° 


50' 



Longitude 
west. 



a 76' 
a 80' 
°a78 
a 74' 
a 77' 
a 76' 
a 73' 
a 76' 
a 75" 
a 74' 
a 83' 
a 77' 
a 75' 
a 76' 
a 74' 
a 75' 
a 74' 
a 73' 
a 80' 
a 77' 
a 77' 
a 73 c 
' a 75' 
a 74' 
a 73' 

73' 
a. 74' 
a. 75' 
a 73' 
a 73' 
a 77' 

73 c 
a74 c 
a 82' 
a 74' 
a72 c 
a 75' 



Population. 



1843. 



61,427 
35,835 
21,778 

123,432 
26,877 
97,588 
17,836 
60,860 
69,232 
70,939 
15,706 
27,360 
74,894 
58,875 
24,926 
92,575 
23,902 
57,741 
37,873 
26,333 
67,132 
16,734 
45,292 
34,101 
15,562 

138,937 
39,337 
47,912 

132,625 

121,131 
35,724 
11,576 
96,303 
30,266 
71,120 

2,543 



1,932,279 



1851. 



75,053 
34,643 
26,519 

144,592 
31,150 

103,783 
18,573 
70,748 
90,841 
81,215 
17,279 
43,649 
86,894 
77,494 
30,207 

103,003 
23,450 
62,990 
52,322 
27,620 
77,105 
17.247 
48,167 
36.4S5 
21,282 

157,085 
54,767 
56.126 

152,753 

133,463 
43,107 
14,032 

109,421 
33,864 
83,125 

3,000 



2,243,054 312,437 



13,626 

4741 
21,160 

4273 

6195 
737 

9888 
21,609 
10,276 

1573 
16,289 
12,000 
1S.619 

5281 
10,428 

5249 

14.449 

1287 

9973 

513 

2875 

2384 

5720 

18,148 

15,430 

8214 

20,128 

12,332 

7383 

2456 

13,118 

3597 

12,005 

457 



1062 



22.18 
3.37 
12.58 
17.1 
15.9 
6.35 
4.13 
16.18 
31.21 
14.48 
10. 
59.5 
16. 
31.6 
21.18 
11.25 
1.81 
9.21 
38.15 
4 

14.86 
3. 

6.35 
6.6 
36.75 
12. 
39.2 
17.1 
15.1 
10.18 
20.4 
21.2 
13.5 
11.8 
16.88 

18. 



TABLE D. 



ABORIGINES AND SAVAGES. 


Minimum. 


Maximum. 


Territory of Mocoa and canton of San Martin, contiguous 
Territory of the Goajira, comprehended in Riohacha. . . 
In the deserts of Upar, Ocaria, Santamarta and Opon 


70,000 
18,000 

2,000 
5,000 
5,000 
8,000 


75,000 
20,000 

3,000 

6,000 

6,000 

10,000 


In the deserts of Choco, Antioquia, and Mompox .... 
Do. do. of Darien, Chiriqui & Veraguas (Isth's) 


108,000 


120,000 



96 

TABLE E. 

General table of the Census, by sections, provinces and terri- 
tories, and number of legislators. 



Position. 



Provinces and 
Territories. 



Civilized 
Popula- 
tion. 



Sections. 



Total. 



In the Isthmus 
of Panama. 



Azuero, 
Chiriqui, 
Panama, 
Veraguas, 



In the south be 
tween the central 
Cordillera and the 
Pacific. 



Barbacoas, 

Buenaventura, 

Cauca, 

Pasto, 

Popayan, 

Tuquerres, 



In the west, be 
tween the Magda 
lena, the Pacific, 
and the Gulf of 
Darien to both 
seas. 



Antioquia, 
Choco, 
Cordoba, 
Medellin, 



In the central 
part of the Repub- 
lic, extending east 
to Venezuela. 



Bogota, 

Cundinamarca, 

Mariquita, 

Neiva, 

Tequenthama, 

Zipaquira, 



In the northeast 
to Venezuela. 



Casanare, 
Tundama, 
Tunja, 
Velez, 



In the north to 
Venezuela. 



Ocana, 

Pamplona, 

Santander, 

Socorro, 

Soto, 



On the Atlantic. 



Cartagena, 

Mompox, 

Riohacha, 

Sabanilla, 

Santamarta, 

Valle de Upar, 

Territorio Mocoa, 



34,643 
17,279 
52,322 
33,864 

26,519 
31,150 
70,748 
27,620 
77,105 
43,107 



75,053 
43,649 
90.841 
77'494 



144,592 
81,215 
86,894 

103,003 
56,126 
83,125 

18.573 
152,753 
133,463 
109,421 

23,450 
62,990 
21,282 
157,085 
54,767 

103,783 
30,207 
17,247 
48,167 
36,485 
14,032 
3,000 



1st. 
Istmo. 



2d. 
Cauca. 



3d. 
Antioquia. 



4th 
' Cundinamarca. 



5th. r 
Boyaca. 



6th. f 
Guanenta.. 



7th. 
Magrdalena. 



65 2.243,054 



138,108 



276,249 



287,037 



554,955 



414,210 



319,574 



249,921 

3,000 

2,243,054 



97 



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98 



TABLE G-. 

THE MOST COMMON ALIMENTARY PLANTS, ROOTS, GRAINS 
AND FRUITS. 



Achras sapota, Medlar. 

Alfonsia oleifera Oil palm. 

Allium sativum Garlic. 

Allium cepa Onion. 

Alpinia, ., Achira. 

Amygdalus persica Peach. 

Anetiium fceniculum, Anise. 

Annona squamosa, Custard tree. 

Annona manirote, id. 

Annona Humboldtiana, Chirimoya. 

Annona muricata, Guanabana. 

Annona palustris. 

Annona aromatica Scented custard tree. 

Apium gra veolens, Apio. 

Arachis hipogea, . . ... Mani. 

Artocarpus incissa Bread fruit tree. 

Asparragus sativa, Asparagus. 

Attalea amygdalina, Almond. 

Bactris gachipaes, High palm. 

Beta vulgaris Beet. 

Bixa orellana, Annotta. 

Brassica napus, Rape. 

Brassica oleracea botrytis Cauliflower. 

Brassica oleracea, Cabbage. 

B. O. laciniata viridis Brocoli. 

Bromelia ananas, Pine apple. 

Bromelia karatas, Pifluela. 

Cactus melocactus Pitahaya. 

Cactus nopal,.. Purple Indian fig. 

Cactus opuntia, Indian fig. 

Canna indica Achira. 

Caparis, Purging cassia. 

Capsicum Aji, different spices. 

Capsicum annum, Bed pepper. 

Carolinea princeps, Bread tree. 

Carica, Little papaw. 

Carica aromatica Higuillo. 

Carica papaya, Papaw. 

Cassuvium pomiferum,.. Maranon. 

Ceratonia siliqua Sweet tare. 

Cherropodium quinoa, Quinoa. 

Chrisobalanus icaco Hicaco. 

^, i.-i „ „■„•*„ S Green and pur- 

Chrysophilum caimito j ple oaimi * 

Chrysophilum excelsior, Yellow caimito. 

Chrysophilum pungens,..C. of the mountain. 

Cryptocarya canelilla, Guasiman. 

Cicer arietinum, Chick-pea. 

Cicorium endivia, Chicory. 

Cirius,. Teazle. 

Citrus Lemon. 

Citrus aurantium, Sweet orange. 

Citrus limeta Lime. 

Citrus mali, Citron. 

Citrus medica, Do. 

Citrus vulgaris, Sour orange. 

Cocolcba uvifera, Grape. 

Cocus lodoicea, Cocoa. 

Cocus mauritia, Bread palm. 

Cocus nucifera Cocoa. 

Cocus buty racea, Wine palm. 

Cocus nucifera Gorgona, Pacific cocoa. 

Coll'ca arabica. Coffee. 



Conium arracacha Arracacha. 

Conium esculenta, Arracacha white. 

Conium xantkroriza, Arracacha purple. 

Convolvulus batata Sweet potato. 

Coriandrum sativum, Coriander. 

Cucumis melo, Melon. 

Cucurbita sitrullus, Watermelon. 

Cuminum cy nimum, Cummin. 

Daucus carrota, Carrot. 

Dipteris odorata, Sarapia. 

Discorea alata i 

„ sativa,.. . > Names, of three species. 
„ bulbifera, j 

Dolichlos lablad, Quinchonchos. 

Dyospiros obtusifolia Black zapote. 

Epidendrum vainilla,... Vainilla, Bejuquillo. 

Ervum lens Lentil. 

Faba vulgaris, Bean. 

Ficus carica,..; Fig. 

Ficus cactus Indian fig. 

Fragaria vesica, Strawberry. 

Fragaria chilensis, Chili strawberry. 

Genipa americana, Yagua. 

Geoff rea superba, Gigua. 

Hibiscus suculentus,.. .Candia, Quimbombo. 

Hordeum vulgare, Barley. 

Inga lucida, .' Guamo. 

Inga nungens, Guamacho. 

Jubdea spectabilis, Coquito of Chile. 

Lactuca sativa Lettuce. 

Lathy rus sativus Vetch. 

Laurus persea, Large pea. 

Lodoicea, Cocos nucifera., Cocoa nut. 

Lucuma serpentaria, Zapote. 

Lucuma Bomplandia Lucuma, Maco. 

Lupinus sativus Lupin. 

Malum Apple. 

Malum sidoneum, Quince. 

Malpighia punicifolia, Cherry. 

Mammea americana Mamei. 

Mangifera domestica, Mango. 

Marantha Sulu, Lairenes. 

Martineziasiliata Chontaduro. 

Matisia, Sweet -zapote. 

Melicoca bijuga Mamon. 

Melicoca olivafbrmis Zapotillo. 

Mentha sativa Yerbabuena. 

Morus celtidifolia, Mulberry . 

Musa coccinea, Guinea plantain. 

Musa discolor, Black plantain. 

Musa monoscarpos, Platano santafereno. 

Musa paradisiaca, Platano harton. 

Musa regia, Platano dominico. 

Musa rosacea, Tahiti plantain. 

Musa violacea, Platano maqueno. 

Myristica otoba, Nuez moscada. 

M y rtus jambos Pomarrosa. 

Myrtus psidium Sour Guava. 

Ocymum basilicum Sweet bazil. 

Oredoxa regia Palmito. 

Origanum majorana, Sweet marjorum. 

Origanum majorauoides, Oreganum 

Oriza sativa Rice. 



99 



Oxalis acetosa, Sorrel. 

Oxalis cornuta Vinagrillo! 

Oxalis tuberosa Oca! 

Falma mauritia, Mor'iche! 

Palma meiocoton Pichiguas 

Pasiflora ligularis, Granadilla. 

Pasiflora cordifolia, \ Green granadilla 

( parcha. 

Pasiflora quadrangularis Pumpkin. 

Pasiflora quixos, Granadilla de Quijo. 

Phaseolus, Tapiramo. 

Phaseolus vulgaris Kidney bean. 

Phaseolus nanus, French bean. 

Phenix dactylifera, Date. 

Pisum sativum, p e a. 

Portulaca oleracea, Perslain. 

Psidium champito, Minchinche. 

Psidium pomiterum, Guava. 

Psidium pyriferum Little guava. 

Punica granatum Pomegranate. 

Kaphanus sativus, .Radish. 

Saccharum officinarum, Sugar-cane. 

Sesasum orientale, Sesame. 

Sinapisjuncea, Mustard. 



Solanum esculentus Lulo. 

Solanum licopersicum, Tomato. 

Solanum melongena, Eggplant. 

Solanum tuberosum, Potato. 

Solanum Ulloa Tree-tomate. 

Sonchus Millet. 

Spinacea oleracea, Spinach. 

Spondia ciruela Plum. 

Spondia lutea, , . , .' .Hobo! 

Spondia mombin, Yellow plum! 

Spondia purpurea Red plum. 

Sy chos celulis Gourd. 

Sysimbrium nastursium Watercress. 

Tamarindus indica, Tamarind! 

Theobroma arborescens,. . .Strawberry-tree. 

Theobroma caoao, Cacao. 

Theobroma silvestris Wild cacao! 

Tropoeolum tuberosum Majua. 

Ullucus tuberosus Ullucos. 

Uy a. Grapes of different kinds. 

Uva acerba Sour grape. 

Yatropha manihot, Yuca. 

Zea mais, Maize. Different sorts! 



100 



TABLE H. 

Plants useful in the arts and medicine, trees for building- 
timber and cabinet-work, and in general the most common 
plants which grow spontaneously in the various climates. 



Acacia cornigera. 

Acacia fcetida ..Foetid. 

Acacia niopo, Niopo. 

Achras zapota, Zapote. 

Accena elongata. 

Agave americana, Mague, Cabuya. 

Agrostis .A fine herb for soups. 

Aiphanes aculeata A beautiful palm. 

„ praga .Little palm. 

Alchemilla aphanoides. 

„ nivalis. 

„ rupestris. 

Aloe Sabila. 

Alpinia occidentals. 
Alstrcemeria glaucescens. 

,, torta. 

Alternanthera lupulina. 
Allionia violacea. 

Amelus sembetata, ........ .Santa Maria. 

Amy ris carafia, Carafia. 

Amyris altissima, White cedar. 

Anacardium caracoli, Caracoli. 

„ moras tinctoria, . . Palo de mora. 

„ occidentale Paujil. 

Anchusa leucantha. 
Andromeda reticulata. 
Angelonia salicariasfolia 

Annona squamosa Anon. 

Aptus precatorius, Brujitos. 

Aralia capitata Candelero. 

Aralia palmata. 
Arcliria coriacea. 

Areca oleracea, Oil palm. 

Arenaria nemorosa. 

Argyrocheta bipinnatifida, Bitter broom. 

Artocarpus incissa, Chestnut. 

Arundo nitida, Puchicango. 

Aspidium rostratum Polipod. 

Aster mutisii. 
Astragalus geminiflorus. 

Avena, Avena de grama. 

Avicennia nitida .White mangrove. 

Avicennia tormentosa Black mangrove. 

Azorella aretioides. 

Bactris gachipaes, Corozo, Mararai. 

Badleje polycephali. 

„ rugosa. 
tiactris mayor. 
„ minor. 
Bahuinia multinervis. 



Bambusa arundinata, ..Cane. 

„ latifolia, . . . . „ thorny. 

„ trigynia, 

„ aculea, ..... „ pointed. 

„ ferrea „ chontoza. 

Barnadesia. 

Basella marginata, 1 

Befaria coarctata, > , . . Anguchas. 

„ grandifiora, ) 

,, iEstuans. 

,, resinosa,.. . . Angucho of the paramo. 

Bertholletia excelsa Yubia. 

Besleria quinduensium. 

Bignonia Apamate. 

„ chica. 

,, pentaphyla Yellow araguaney. 

Birsonima chrysophylla Chaparro butter. 

Bixa orellana Achote, Bija Bijua. 

Bombax ceiba, B. pedantrum, Ceiba. 

SCarnestolendas, 
Ceiba for canoes. 
Bocconia fructescens. 

Bomplandia trifoliata, Angostura bark. 

Borassus flabelliformis Fan palm. 

Borrago officinalis, Borage. 

Bauhinia cumanensis. 
Buguinvilla? peruviana. 

Bowdicha virgilioides, Alcornoque. 

Breca crinata. 

Browntea grandiceps, Cross-wood. 

Brunellia ovalifolia. 
,, acutangula. 

Bryana coccinea J £3™ fl?* - 

' I poison tree. 

Bucida capitata Granadillo. 

Bucida chocoensis, j ^ a x r f t ^ 1 ende| 

„ elegans Quende, Lion's heart 

Buchnera virgata. 
Cactus cereus. 
Caladium arboreum. 
Calceolaria perfoliata. 

„ carpinifiora. 

„ chimboracensis. 

„ candicans. 

„ ericoides. 

,, fasciculata. 

Calcitrum lidifolium. 

„ reflexum. 
Calcitrum nivale. 



101 



Caliphrantus paniculata, Little lemon. 

Calophyllum Cupi Cupi. 

Canella alba, Curbana. 

Caparis, Canafistolo — of various species. 

Carex pichinchensis. 

„ stehelina. 
Caricie integrifolia "Wild pear. 

,, polymnia. 

Carthamus tinctoria, Saffron. 

Castillea elastica Elastic-gum seringa. 

Cassalpina. 

Ceratonia siliqua, Smooth tare. 

Cerastium densum. 

Cecropia peltata Guarumo. 

Cedrela odorata, Cedar. 

Cerbera thevetia, Wild rice. 

Ceroxylon andicola, Wax-palm. 

Cinchona lancifolia, Quina orange. 

„ ovalifolia, „ 

„ cordifolia, „ yellow. 

„ oblonguifolia, red. 

„ grandiflora, „ white. 

„ condaminea, „ 

„ caduciflora ,, 

Cissampelos scandens. Pareira brava. 

„ caapeba, ,, false. 

Citharexylum cinereum Pendare. 

Citrus, Lemon. 

Citrus vulgaris Orange. 

Citrus aurantium, „ sweet. 

Cofl'ea arabica, Coffee. 

Chamasrops humilis. Common palm. 

Chamoedonea gracilis. 
Chuquiraga insignis. 

„ microphylla. 

„ lancifolia. 

Chelone, Scented oak. 

Chionantes compacta Guava Myrtle. 

„ tetranda, Snow tree. 

Chionanthus pubescens, , Arupo. 

Chrysophy Hum, Caimito. 

Clitora ternata, Bejuco de conchita. 

Clusia alba Copey. 

Cocco-cypselum repens. 

Commelina comunis, Canutillo. 

Convolvulus bogotensis. 

Copaifera officinalis, Canime. 

Cordia dentata, Caujaro. 

„ lanata. 

Cortex winteranus, Cinnamon. 

Coulteria tinctorea, Guarango Dividivi. 

Craniolaria annua, Escorzonera. 

Crescentia cugete, Totumo. 

Croton lucidum Canoc-cedar. 

Cryptocarya canelilia, Little cinnamon. 

Curatella americana Evergreen oak. 

Cyathea speciosa. 

„ villosa. 
Cypura graminea. 

„ martinicensis. 
Cyperus prolixuus. 

Dalea astragalina, Pispura. 

Mutisii. 
Da?dalea Isvis. 
Dalechampia canescens. 

Daphne cestrifolia, : Anomala. 

Datura arborea Borrachero, Floripondio. 

„ sanguinea, Tonga. 

,, bicolor, Yellow borrachero. 

„ fastuosa, Niungue. 

„ tatula. 
Dendrobium elegans. 

„ grandiflorum. 



Dendrobium longifolium. 
„ latifolium. 

Desfontainea splendens, Almaguerena. 

Desmanthus lacustris, . . .Mimosa of Mompox. 
Deyeuxia coarctata. 

,, stricta. 

Dialesta discolor. 
Dichondra sericea. 
Dicliptera pilosa. 
Dicranum concolor. 
„ longisetum 

„ densum. 

,, vaginatum. 

Dioclea sericea, Dioclea of Honda. 

Dipteris odorata, Sarapia or Tape. 

Dodontea viscosa. 

Dorstenia contrayerva, Cooling-rice. 

Draba alyssoides, . . .Whitlow of Guachucal. 
Drymis granatensis. 

Dulongia acuminata,.. Dulongia of Popayan. 
Ecastophyllum Brownei, ..... .Maray Maray. 

Echites hirtella. 

„ montana. 

„ congesta. 

,, bogotensis. 

„ bracteata. 

„ mollissima. 

„ riparia. 

„ paludosa. 

., citrifolia. 

Ehretia Yellow oak, Guatacan. 

„ citharexylum tomentosum,. White pole. 

Elaphrium graveolens J ^clT^um^*' 

l Tagua, Ncgro- 

Elephantusia macrocarpa, < head, Vegeta- 
( ble ivory. 

Elodea granatensis. 

Elytraria frondosa. 

„ . , , - , . . _ ( Vainillaof the 

Epidendrum fimbnatum j pfiramo _ 

,, ibaguense, Vainillaof Tolima. 

„ polystachyum, . „ of Guaitara. 

,, cernuum „ ofJanacata. 

„ geminiflorum,.. ,, of Mayo. 

,, longiflorum ,, of Popayan. 

,, vanilla aromatica, ,, scented. 
Epstiiepliium elactum. 

Epilobium bonplandium Shagreen. 

Eriodendrum anfractuosum Ceiba. 

Erythrina rubrinerva, Chocho. 

Erythraaquitensis, Canchala'gua. 

Erythryna umbrosa, Cachirulo. 

„ velutina, . . Cachimbo macho, Bucare. 

,, dubia ,, fever. 

Escallonia floribunda. 
„ myrtilloides. 

,, pendula. 
,, tubar. 

Escobedia scabrifolia, Saffron. 

Espeletia argentea Frailejon plateado. 

„ corymbosa , of Almaguer. 

,, grandiflora Fraiiejon. 

Eupatorium iresinoides Eupatorium. 

,, acuminatum „ 

„ pellucidum „ 

„ suaveolens, „ 

„ sericeum, , 

„ loniccroides, „ 

Euphorbia orbiculata Milky. 

„ latazi Lechero 

,, cyathophora,... ,, of Ibague. 
Euphrasia santolinsefolia ..Eufrasia 



102 



Evolvulus debilis, Savannah grass. 

„ holocericeus Oretama. 

„ veronicsfolius. 

Exacum spicatum, Cutubea. 

Festuca andicola Grama of the paramo. 

Fevillia tamnifolia tavilla. 

Ficus deudrocida, Fig. 

Ficus velu Una, Velvet fig. 

,, elliptica, Gum elastic. 

„ arboricida Large fig. 

„ glabrata, Do. 

„ prinoides,.. .Gum elastic of Guaduas. 

Flacourtia glauca, Candelillo de Esmito. 

Flacourtia ulmifolia Candelillo. 

Fragosa crenata. 

Freziera chrysophylla reticulata,. . Mandur. 
Fuchsia petiolaris, quinduensis, j Bellfus- 
„ triphylla, hirtella. 

Galactodendrum utile, Milk-wood. 

Genipa americana. 

Geoft'rsea spinosa Gigua. 

Georlraea superba, Gigua almond. 

„ bredemeyeri. 
Gentiana, cerastioides, corym- ) .-, ,. 

bosa, sedifolia, j .... Gentian. 

Geranium cuculatum. 

Girocarpus americanus, Flyer. 

„ cordifolia. 

Gonolobus riparius. 
Gossipium uniglandulosum,.. ..Cotton, long. 

„ arborescens „ tree. 

„ herbaceum, „ annual. 

„ hirsutum, biennial. 

- Peruvianum,....| »«•«££ 

„ acuminatum, ,, of Cauca. 

Graminea, .Carrizo, carrizillo, diftr'nt classes. 

„ „. r Different classes of 

Graminea, < • c 

^ grams for soups. 

Gaultheria odorata, Pesgua. 

„ coccinea, Pesgua macho. 

Guayacum niger, Guayacan black. 

„ officinalis, „ yellow. 

Habenaria trifida, latifolia. 

Havetia laurifolia. 

Hasseltia floribunda. 

Hecastophyllum dubium, iBrasilwood, Ma- 

Brownei, \ ray. 

Hedyosmum, Hirsutum, Glabra- ) 

turn Bonplandium. \ 

Hedysarum reptans, tortuosum. 

Helianthus aureus, Turnsol. 

Heliconia bihai, Vijao, Vihao. 

Heliconia hirsuta, psitacorum, .Little plantain 

Heliocarpus popayanensis .Eliocarpo. 

Heliotropium grandiflora, Turnsol. 

Hemimeris Mutisii. 

Hermesia castenaifolia, Willows. 

Herpestes caprarioides. 

Heteropteris argentea, cornifolia,.. .Malpigia. 

Hevea guayanensis . . , Elastic gum, Gebe. 

Hibiscus tiliaceus Majagua. 

Hirtella mollicoma. 

Hippocratea verrucosa, Warty. 

Hippomane mancinella, Manzanillo. 

TT ,. „ ( Angeliuo laurel, 

Homalium racemosum, . . < . ° . 

Hura crepitans. 
Hydrocotyle Bonplandi. 
Hydrolea spinosa. 

Hymenrea courbaril Carrot tree. 

Hymencea floribunda, Nazareno. 

Hypoxis pusilla, elongata. 



Hyptis melissoides, spicata. 

Janipha Manihot, Sweet y uca. 

,, Lreflingii, Bitter yuca. 

Jasminum Arabica Arabia pine. 

Jasminum Sambac, Diamela. 

Jatropha curcas, Pine. 

Jatropha gossypifolia, . . .Tautua, Frailecilla. 
Jatropha Hevea,.. Elastic gum, var. of Gebe. 
Icica cuspidata, Tacipate pegapega. 

„ macrophylla, Guacharaco. 

I lcica carana ? Carana. 

„ tacamahaca Tacamaco canime. 

,, altissima, Sweet cedar. 

Iecebrum lanatum, Knot-grass. 

Ilex paltoria. 

,, miricoides. 

Indigofera tinctoria Indigo. 

„ humilis, citisoides, ) xtnia ; ,■ 

tephrosioides, ( - Wlld mdl S°- 

,, disperma, Fine indigo. 

Inga lucida Guama machete. 

„ ligustina Orore. 

„ pungens, Guamacho. 

„ coruscans, Inga mimesa. 

„ Humboldtiana, Guabo. 

,, sapida Guama chico. 

„ fulgens Copal Mimosa. 

„ ornata, Guama cane. 

,, forfex, Guama inerme. 

„ salutaris Dropsy-bark 

Jonidium parviflorum Cui-chunchullo 

„ riparium, Carare Violet 

„ anomalum. 
Jonopsis pulchella. 
Ipomcea dichotoma, coccinea. 
Iresine mutisii, elatior, elongata, flavescenfi. 
Isochilus graminifolius. 
Juncus bogotensis, platycaulos, ? Reed, 

prolifer microcephalus, ^ Little reed. 

Jussicea peploides, polygnoides, f ci ave j; to 
natans, sedoides, salicifolia, > ciavecito 
macroparpa, ) 

Justicia, interrupta, pectoralis ) __ Acanthu8 . 

polygnoides, ) 

Klaprothia mentzelioides. 

Klenia porophyllum, Cacalia. 

Kuhlia glauca. 

,, ulmifolia Candelillo. 

Kuhnia arguta. 

Lantana floribunda Verbena. 

Lamourouxia serratifolia. 

r . \ Mavacure cane, 

Lasiostoma curare j Curare. 

Lacistema myricoides. 

Laurus cinnamomoidcs, . .Andaqui cinnamon 

Laurus, Mulatto laurel 

Laurus, Sasafras „ 

T S Vegetable marrow, 

Laurus persea | various kinds. 

La;tia hirtella Trompillo. 

Lecythis elliptica, dubia, False myrtle. 

Lilsaa subulata. 

Lippia hirsuta. 

Liquindambarstyraciflua, Jalapa amber. 

Lobelia columned, ferruginea ~\ 
caoutchouc, gigantea faetida ( Lobelia, 
Mutisiana, rupestris, fasti- t campanillas. 
giata, grandis, glabrata, J 

„ ... . ( Taure del paramo, 

Lupinus Smithianus, < Chocho. 

Lonchocarpus macrophyllus, . . Fruta de lama. 

Lupinus paniculatus, Bogota lupin. 

„ alepecuroides Purple taure. 

Luzula gigantea. 



103 



Lycopodium microphyllum Licopodio. 

.... , { Cow's 

Marcgraviacia godoya | tongue. 

Macrocnemun tinctorium, Puraguatan. 

Malpighia obovata, Malpigia of Nare. 

„ ternifolia, ,, of Pandi. 

,, , .. „ ,. ( Common mallow 

Malva urticasfoha, ^ with purple flower _ 

Malvaviscus arboreus, Malvavisco. 

Mammea americana, Mamey . 

Marantha Solu silvestre. 

Maranta lutea, caohibu, Hoja de rancho. 

Margyrocarpus setosus. 

Mussaanda nitida Gardenia. 

Melampodium paludosum,. j Dai-jen 

Melananthera linmei, Cariaquito white. 

Melastoma Mutisii, Siete cuero white. 

„ octunum, variety. 

„ diversifolium, Melastomo de 

„ ibaguense Mayo de Ybague. 

„ rubiginosum, Pega pega. 

„ granulosum,.. .Siete cuero chico. 

„ theaszaus, May flower. 

„ setinode, May rose 

„ caudatum, Mayo rosado. 

„ coronatum, Siete cuero. 

.... ( Melastomo of 

„ extmctonum,.... | Mariquita . 

„ lagerum,. .Melastomo of Quindio. 
M. Capitellatum. 

Melastomo xanthostuchis, Evergreen oak. 

,, ,. .. „ . ( Cotopris, little 

Mehcoca olivaaformis, | monkey. 

Melochia piramidata Common mallows. 

Microtea debilis, Magdalena herb. 

Mikanie. suaveolens, .... Guaco of Guarumo. 

„ Guaco Guaco. 

„ laurifolia,.. Guaco cacalia of Mutis. 

„ angustifolia Guaco of Ibague. 

Mimosa hiimilis, dormi- 1 
ens somnians, pellita, > Sensitive plants. 
pudica, ) 

Mimosa cinerea, Cuji. 

„ odorata Aromito. 

JVIirabilis hybrida Buenas tardes, Jalapa. 

Mofiina obtusifolia, revoluta ) 

cestrifolia, phytolacc»folia, > Hebeandra. 
parviflora. j 

Morinda Turbacensis, . . Morinda of Turbaco. 

Morus alba White mulberry. 

Morns celtidifolia, Mulberry. 

„ corylifolia, Colored mulberry. 

„ tinctorea, Mulberry wood. 

Mougeotia polystachya, Meloquia. 

„ mollis, Malva mole. 

„ inflata White meloquia. 

„ hirsuta, Santa Ana mulberry. 

Muntingia calabura Cedrillo majagua. 

Mutisia grandiflora, Mountain bells. 

Myrica arguta, cerifera, i 

„ Polycarpa > Wax laurel. 

„ Pubescens ) 

Myristica otoba, Otoba. 

My roxylum peruiferum, . . . Peruvian Balsam. 

„ pubescens Tache. 

„ toluifera Balsam of Tolu. 

„ popayanensis, Balsam, 

Myrsine popayanensis. 

Myrtus Xylopioides, mollis acu- i 

minata, microfilla, salicifolia, > Myrtle, 
clusiaefolia, Marantha, J 

Myrtus albida, crypthocarpa. Myrtle. 

Myrtus coccolobaefblia Sour guava. 

Najas arguta. 



Nauclea aculeata. 

„ tomentosa, Uruparia. 

Negretia mutisiana. 

,, mollis. 
Neottia squamulosa. 

Nephrodium exaltatum, Polipod 

Neurocarpum macrophyllum, . ... Savenata 

Nicotiana tabacum, Tobacco 

„ andicola, Wild tobacco 

,, pulmonarioides, Say re 

Nierembergia spathulata. 

Noisettia frangulefolia Tall violet 

Norantea anomala. 
Nycterisition argenteum. 

Ocoteajavisensius Sasafras 

,, sericea. 
„ turbacencis. 
„ discolor. 
„ rigida. 
„ mollis. 
„ longifolia. 
„ latifolia. 
„ macrophylla. 

Odontandra acuminata, White mangle 

CEnothora epilobiifolia. 
Olyra arundinacea. 

,, cordifolia. 
Oncidium iridifolium. 
„ pictum. 

„ panduriferum. 

„ globuliferum. 

„ olivaceum. 

Onoseris mexicana. 
„ purpurea. 
„ hieracioides. 

Oreodoxa regia, Royal palm. 

,, sancona, Sancona palm. 

frigida, Small palm 

Orthotrichum longirostrum. 

Oryza latifolia Little rice 

Osteomeles glabrata. 
Oxalis lotoides. 
mollis, 
scandens. 
medicaginea. 
lupulina. 
psoralioides. 
hedysaroides. 
schraderiana. 
Orypetalum riparium. 

Palicourea speciosa, ? Emetic 

longifolia ^ herb. 

Palmas— Cocos nucifcra, Cocoanut. 

( Koyal palm, Pin- 

, . \ dova, Tall palm, 

„ butyracea, i Cuesc0) wine . 

( palm. 

„ oreodoxa regia, Royal palm. 

„ martinezia caryotaafolia Tall palm. 

„ ceroxylon andicola Wax palm. 

" mauritia flexuoea, Moriche. 

Panax longipetalum, Yagrumo. 

splendens, Aralia of Popay an. 

f ■ - - v.i" 'i S Beautiful flax of 

Pancratium htorale, ..... J the coast 

Panicum altissimum Guinea plant. 

„ leucophaium, myurus, ... } Panic grass, 
„ zizanioides, jumentorum, \Camelote, 
„ glaucescens } Gramalote. 

Paspalum carinatum, stellatum, ~\ 

distichophylum ciliatum, / Graoseg 
hirtum.conjugatum, macro- > jy[jii e t.' 
phyllum, virgatum, undu- \ 
latum, aureum J 



104 



Peperonias, 

Uma-puma, 

and other 

local 

names. 



Passiflora glauca, emar- ~) Passion-flower and 
ginata,quadrangula- Granadillas. 
rls, ligularis, ornata, There are some 
guazumoefolia,longi- I other varieties ; 
pes, glabrata, coria- j and those bearing 
cea.diftbrmis, misera, the most exquis- 
alnifolia, vitifolia, ite fruit we have 
manicata. J placed in Table G. 

Pauletia picta. 

Paullinia cupana Cupana. 

„ turbacencis, riparia, ) Cururu, 

mollis I Azucarito. 

Pavonia typhalceoides, sessiliflora, ) Mallows. 

mollis, mutisii $ Hibiscus, 

Pictis pygmoea, elongata Anisillo linear. 

Pelicourea rigida, Chaparrillo. 

Peperomia tristachya, talinifo-" 
lia, saligna, laxiflora, folio- 
sa, colorata, mollis, diver- 
sifolia, biuncialis, mummu- 
larifolia, rotundata, dissi- 
milis, pallens, microphylla, 
protulacesfolia, glalioides, 

stolonifera, pruinosa, 

Perrottetia quinduensis. 

Petitia quinduensis, Verbena of Quindio. 

Petrsea arborea Maria. 

Phalangium latifolium Cross-flowers. 

Pharus scaber Faro of Tequenthama. 

Phaseolus linearis, peduncularis. 
„ pilosus. 

Phyllantus ly cioides, Barbascajo. 

Phylantus salvisfolius, Yuca tree. 

Phytelephas macrocarpa, . . j Tb §^ Ne S ro " 

Phytolacca bogotensis. 

Piper grandifolium, variega-" 

turn, crassinervium, ripa- 

rium, rude, hispidum, 

psilostachyum, tenue, um- 

brosum, cornifolium, la- 
tum, coruscans, macrurum, 

albidum, lasvigatum, 

Piscidia erithryna Barbasco. 

Pistia stratiotes Swimming grass. 

Pitcairnia pungens Thorny cypress. 

Pleurothallis laurifolia, Small onion. 

„ macrophylla, ...Damitas (Parasites.) 

Plumbago scandens, Tri-colored grass. 

Plumeria alba, rubra, Lechoso. 

Poa reptans, infirma, ( Dog - tooth, Migasta- 

pastoensi? J quia. 

Podocarpus taxifolia Yew tree. 

Poligonum segetum, hispidum,Weak tobacco. 
„ tamnifolium, . . Haemorrhage plant 

Polipodium crassifolium, Red root. 

Pontederia azurca, Pontederia de Buga. 

Portulaca oleracea, Berdolaga. 

Pothos myosuroides, ) Parasitic and odo- 
microstachyus, $ riferous plants. 
„ violaceus, quinquener- ) Murapa, 

vius, pedatus, \ Falsa vainilla. 

Pourretia pyramidata Achupalla. 

Polylepis incana, Quinuar. 

Polymnia riparia. 

Prosopis dubia, Carita, Turbaco. 

Psoralea mutisii, Bogota indigo. 

Psychotria emetica Ipecacuanha. 

Varieties of 



Varieties 
called 
native 
pepper. 



ardisiffifolia, anceps, 



Ipecacuanha. 



„ lucida, divaricata, hirta, . . Raicillas 
Quercus Humbolti, } Oak, Common oak of 
Almaguerencis, > Almaguer, de To- 
Tolimencis ) lima or Quindio. 



Quercus caris Pardillo. 

Ranunculus bonariensis, gera- 1 

nioides, pilosus, Bomplan- VRanunculus, 

dianus, aquaticum ) 

Rauwolfia ternifolia. 

Restrepia antennifera, Uniflor. 

Rhamnus senticosa, Molono. 

Rhaptostylum acuminatum, J ^^^ ° f 

Rhus juglandifolia Caspi. 

Rhinocarpus excelsa Caracoli. 

Rhizophora mangle, Mangrove. 

Ricinus comunis, Palmacristi. 

Bobinia maculata, Ratsbane. 

Rodriguezia Mata-totumo (Parasite.) 

Rubia incana, scabra, Madder. 

„ tinctorinm, Dye-madder. 

Rubus bogotensis, glabratus, Blackberry. 

Rudolphia dubia. 

Ruellia paniculata, inundata, ge- ) 

miniflora, tubiflora, gigantea, > Turnsol. 

macrophylla, J 

Rumex longifolius Dock. 

Saccharum contractum, Suaye caSita. 

,, ravenss, Fox-Tail. 

Sagina quitensis. 

Salvia rufula, tolimensis, Sage. 

Salvia tortuosa, moschata, carnea, ) 

venusta patefolia, petiolaris, V .. .Sage. 

sagitata, J 

Salvinia laegivata, ' J . Water-grass. 

Saman acacia Saman. 

Sambucus nigra, "White alder. 

Sapindus saponaria, Parapara. 

Sapium salicifolium, Azucenillo. 

Sauvagezia erecta. 

Schoanus globosus, Dieromena. 

Schmidelia occidentalis, mollis. 

„ glabrata. 

Schrankia hamata,.. Tuberose sensitive plant. 
Schwenkia glabrata. 
Scirpus oxiguus, trichoides. 
„ montanus. 

Scleria floribunda, Curibano. 

Scutellaria malvaefolia. 
Securidaca volubilis. 

Securidosa pubescens Cascaron majomo. 

Sedum bicolor, 

Senecio macrophyllus, fuliginosus. 

Sesbania dubia. 

Setaria gracilis, composita, . . Peacock's meat. 

Sida hermannioides, floribunda, atrosangui- 

nea, linifolia, hondensis, althasifolia. 

Sideritis bullata, False sage. 

Siegesbeckia cordifolia. 

Sisyrinchium bogotense. 

Smilax officinalis, tomentosa, . .Zarzaparrilla. 

Solanum False tomato. 

,, oblongifolium. 

,, anonajfolium. 

,, rudula. 

„ lepidotum. 

„ narense. 

„ trachyphillum. 

„ venosum. 

„ Iffivigatum. 

„ fetidum,.Yerba irundia, Fostid plant. 

„ cornifolium. 

„ psychotrioides 

„ phyllyreoides. 

„ sacrophyllum. 

„ ovalifolium. 
Soliva mutisii, pigmaea 
Spananthe paniculata. 



105 



Spathodea obovata, . . .Espatodea de Turbaeo. 
Spermacoce bogotensis, humifusa, capitellata. 
Spigelia hamellioides, <y ermifu£re 

pedunoularis ) vernulu S e - 

Spilanthes ciliata, rim- >Guaco of the cordil- 

briata, mutisii, ... j lera of Bogota. 
Spiraoantha cornifolia. 
Spiraea argentea. 

Spondia lutea, Jobo. 

Stachy s bogotensis Espinosa. 

Stachytarpheta orubica Verbena. 

Stellaria recurvata. 

Steli3 floribunda, angustifolia, elongata, alba, 

macrocarpa. 
Stemodia arenaria. 
Stonoglossum coryophorum. 
Stevia ivsefolia, elongata. 
„ elatior, glutinosa. 

Stylosanthes guyannensis, j ^lSer* 

Styloceras laurifolium. 

Svartia Beteado, Quiebra-hacha, Biomate. 

Swertia asolepiadea, hypericoides, gracilis. 

Swietania mahogani, Caoba. 

Symplocos, alstonia, serrulata, ) LitU j 

rufescens, tomentosa, m-> .'. 

cronata ) lree - 

Tacsonia lanata $ Curubita of Quindio 

1 acsoma lanata j m the South 

„ speciosa, Curuba of Bogota. 

„ mollissiraa Tacso of Popay an. 

„ viridis, ..Sweet curubita of Antioquia. 

Tageteszipaquirensis, j *$*« 

Talinum patens, .1. ..Portulaca, Vicho. 

Tamarindus indica, I Tamarind. 

Tecoma pentaphila White oak. 

„ azalessfiora Ash. 

Telipogon angustifolius, Tradescantia. 

Tephrosia senna, ' Buga senna. 

„ emarginata, Barbasco. 

Ternstr^iaclusi^folia.f^^ of 

„ meridionali3,..T : aonabo of Bogota. 

Tetracera volubilis L Tigaria. 

Tetramerium jasminioides,'. .Coffee jessamin. 

Teucrium palustre. 

Thalicrum podocarpum. 

Theobroma bicolor..'. Bacao of Choeo. 

oaoao \ white > yellow, purple, 
, ^ an( j g reen coflee. 

,, guazuma, . . .Stiswberry tree. 

„ Silvester ..Monkey cacao. 

Thibaudia floribunda, nitida;. . .Chamorlanes. 
,, longifolia, falcate, ) Uva cama- 

macrophylla, .1-4 rona. 
,, cordifolia, me- ) Chamorlan de 

lastomoides, ... ) borrachera. 

m ^U S »n^ iUSC,>la ' I Urbalaes. 
pubescens, ........ ) 

„ quereme, Scented quereme. 

„ ardisaefolia,. Grape de Fusagazuga. 

Thymus nnbigenus j feffiSST 

Tillandsia elongata, heliconioides, ? ^ a , v u 

Tocovena mutisii, longifolia. 

,, macrophylla. 

Tournefortia hispida, laevigata], nitida, ieuco- 

phylla. 



Tradescantia hirsuta, 
Tragia volubilis. 
Tribulus cistoides,. . . 



. Comelina. 



. Abrojo. 



Tribulus maximus. 
Trichilla spondioides. 

„ guadijuga, montana j £?"*£. 

Trichoceros parvifiorus,. . ..Mosquito flower. 
Trifolium Meliloto 

,, guyanensis..,. ..Mariquita clover. 

,, White clover 

„ Purple do. 

„ Yellow do. 

Trigonia sericea. 
Triplans amencana. 
Triumfetta pilosa, acuminata. 

„ mollissima, Bartramia 

Trixis nerifolia Incense 

Tropaeolum pubescens, peregri- S Capuchina, 

uum I Malla. 

Turnera mollis, sericea. 

Unona xylopioides, Frutade burro. 

Uceolaria cinereo cassia, Liquen. 

Urticaserpyllacea ) o^llgu^ 

„ thymifolia, Little nettle. 

„ melastomoides, Suba nettle. 

„ floribunda, Ortiga of Popayan. 

„ lepthophyla, flabellata,. . . \ g^f^tti' 

„ horrida, baccifera, ulmi- $ Pringa- 

folia, I mosa. 

„ tilisfolia nemorosa, \ f^Sf" °™ ? f 
' I the Magdalenu. 

Vaccinmm acuminatum, ..Hyacinth. 

Valeriana microphylla triphyl- ) v ■ 

la, crassifolia laurifolia, t various. va- 

longifolia, urticaBfolia, ) lenans - 

Vanilla aromatica, Vainilla, Bejuquillo. 

Verbena glabrata, Verbena pelada, 

„ valerianoides, . . Verbena de valerian!) . 

Verbesina turbacencis, Sarbatana 

Vernonia rubricaulis, Spring. 

„ gracilis. 

„ lrangulasfolia. 

„ 'cordisefolia. 

,, odoratisima, Censer- plant. 

,. eleagnoides. 
Veronica serpyllifolia. 
Viburnum glabratum. 
Vicia cetifolia. 

Villarcia Humboldtiana, Cienaga grass. 

Viola P^^ra (Vide Jo- j Cuv . chnnclll , !]o 

,, prunellsfolia, stipularis Violet 

Vitis indica,.. Para water-cane 

,, tiliaefolia, Cane grape 

Waltheria indica, White mallows. 

Wedelia pulchella, Little mirasol . 

Weinmania ovata, heterophylla, hirtella so." 

bifolia. 

Wiborgia parviflora, Galinsoga. 

Wigandia urens Soso. 

,, crispa, Tantan. 

Witheringia macrophylla, Lake leaf. 

,, rhomboidea, ciliata, .Tomato flower. 

„ dumetorum, riparia. 

„ angustifolia. 

Xanthium catharticum Caza-marucha. 

Xuarezia biflora, Capraria 

Xylopia salicifolia, ligustrifolia. 

Zingiber officinale Ginger. 

Zanthoxylum culantrilo, Culantrillo. 

,, " rigidum, Niaragato. 

Zygophyllum arboreum, . . . , Holy rod 

Zornia pubescens. 



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